SNOWDEN

when you are being put in a situation that could affect your live in danger, what would you do to ensure you still live? The only save place is on the run as the movie tagline said. Snowden's controversial situation still not resolve on this very day and remain a mystery. Is he a true hero or a traitor? Film Director Oliver Stone rivets a personal look at one of the most polarizing figures of the 21^st century, the man responsible for what has been described as the most far-reaching security breach in U.S. intelligence history.  In 2013 Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quietly leaves his job at the NSA and flies to Hong Kong to meet with journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson), and filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to reveal U.S. government cyber surveillance programs of epic proportions. A top security contractor with virtuoso programming skills, Ed has discovered that a virtual mountain of data is being assembled tracking all forms of digital communication not just from foreign governments and terror groups, but from ordinary Americans. And that is how the movie begins.

Disillusioned with his work in the intelligence community, Snowden meticulously gathers hundreds of thousands of secret documents that will expose the full extent of the abuses. Leaving his longtime love Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) behind, Ed finds the courage to act on his principles. The film opens the door on the untold story of Edward Snowden, examining the forces that turned a conservative young patriot eager to serve his country into a historic whistleblower and posing provocative questions about which liberties we are willing to give up in order for our government to protect us. Stone has spent his career mapping pivotal moments in American culture, from the War in Vietnam to the tragedy of 9-11, he has boldly tackled controversial subjects in movies that are both intensely personal and utterly universal. The story of Edward Snowden was tailor made for Stone’s unflinching eye and knack for exposing hypocrisy in high places. Until he made his earthshaking revelations, Edward Snowden was by all accounts committed to supporting the American government. After growing up in a family steeped in government service, he enlisted in the military, aiming for the elite Special Forces and combat in the Iraq War. A catastrophic training accident put him out of the running and Snowden turned instead to a career in the CIA, and later the NSA.

Stone wondered what he could add to the public record that had not previously been revealed. There was already an Academy Award^®-winning documentary chronicling Snowden’s journey, as well as several books on the subject. “I decided that I wanted to explore what was going on inside Ed’s mind,” he says. “What made him the one to go public? Did he recognize the cost before he did it?” The movie was quite well executed without much scenes that you should avoid but to stay tune closed for the next consequences. Stone's direction had made a slick cut onto the unknown for what Snowden was actually been and going through while he is on the run by delivering a clear message to the audiences that the danger is around us.

Open Citywide : 6th October 2016

Review: 4.5/5