First of all, Snowden is a kind of revolution in the world of American cinema. For the first time, an American film with such a budget and star cast directly and factually shows that the United States is a less free country than a number of other countries in which illegal government surveillance of the population has not yet reached such perfection. This conclusion, breaking something very important about the image of the American state in cinema, would be worthy of any documentary, but for a feature film, of course, something more is required.
If we ignore the image of the American state, it turns out that Snowden has a simple biographical basis and slowly tells about the professional and personal growth of Edward from 20 to 29 years. On the one hand, the path from a junior employee of the computer team at the CIA to an infrastructure analyst at the NSA cryptological center. On the other hand, there is a parallel path from the readiness to fight in Iraq to the exposure of the hidden activities of American intelligence services. Stone conveys to the viewer a simple idea – along with professional growth, the growth of civic consciousness naturally occurs. Upon reaching a certain professional height, the feeling of the incorrectness of the built system ceases to be just a sensation and becomes a clear picture, supported by its own unique experience. And when a sincere patriotic feeling is superimposed on all this, stifled in a system that has betrayed its ideals, then the will to change the situation appears. This is what the director calls "another patriotism" - apparently sighted patriotism compared to mindlessly following orders.
As a biography, the film may seem overly rational and uncomplicated - yes, but this is the life of a special services worker, not a genius with mental problems: in our time there are still rational people. Snowden appears to the audience modest, well-mannered, loyal, honest, but, of course, not a revolutionary – he is indecisive, withdrawn and does not have leadership qualities. The emotional component of the picture is based on Edward's worries about his civic duty. Responsibility for your actions is not just some burden for your chosen profession, it is a whole range of feelings. There is an alarming suspicion of the legality of what is happening, and the painful thoughts of the executor of orders doubtful in their morality, and, finally, a sense of belonging to the creation of the glass society in which you yourself are forced to live. The culmination of the film can be considered just the scene of a video link between Snowden and his boss Corben O’Brien: over Edward hangs a huge, full wall, the face of Corben, peering into the screen like a glass vessel with an interesting specimen. Corben suggests that Ed calm down - he checked for sure that Snowden's girlfriend was faithful and did not sleep with any photographer. Now you can relax...
In a good way, there can be no claims to this film at all - it is truthful, relevant, qualitatively made, the perpetrator of scandals himself had a hand in its creation. If Snowden’s personality had any significant cracks, flaws, they would have been presented to the world long ago (remember the story of Assange). But for now, vices are only visible from the opposite side.
10 out of 10
Original