Snowden

"I think I'm free because I don't have to worry about tomorrow. I'm happy with what I've done today." - When watching Snowden, anyone with a modicum of judgment has to realize what a fucked up world we live in. Oliver Stone handled the highly publicized scandals with dignity. His film is quite a clear and in many ways disturbing statement about the state of contemporary society. (85%) (16/10/2021)

A highly sensitive topic where I can't imagine anyone other than Oliver Stone taking on such material. He has a knack for portraying films set against a journalistic or political backdrop with a keen eye for detail, making the audience reflect on what's happening on the screen. The film itself tries to come across as very thoughtful and intelligent, so expect a lot of terms that might leave you puzzled about their meaning. On the other hand, the film also focuses a lot on Snowden's character, his inner struggle, and his thoughts about what is right and what isn't. I didn't understand all the tech jargon, but Oliver Stone presented the film in a way that it didn't really bother me in the end. A few times during the viewing, I felt the urge to destroy all my electronic devices—the glimpse under the metaphorical lid can open the eyes of many viewers, including mine. That's why I have to appreciate the real Snowden—such courage is rarely seen. Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't intimidated by this role and delivered one of the best performances of his career so far; I also appreciate Rhys Ifans as the CIA higher-up. It's an interesting film that brings to life the story of a man who wasn't afraid to open a dangerous Pandora's box. For me, it gets 80%. (21/09/2019)

Oliver Stone is a very more experienced director, I like his U-Turn and Savages a lot, but after a four-year hiatus he returns with a mediocre film. At first I was more or less very satisfied, I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt a lot, but here I stopped enjoying it after an hour. As soon as the film started to deal with politics it went to shit, at least for me; on the one hand I don't care about it and on the other, I don't care about American politics at all. Finished with a slight suffering, Snowden himself is an interesting personality though.50% (08/12/2016)

The director Oliver Stone really shines through the movie. You don’t really buy all the dialogues, but the picking on America is apparent in almost every scene. The wide range of actors backing him is really interesting, so a number of interesting faces appears throughout the movie. Anyway, the most important thing here is Snowden and Joseph Gordon-Lewitt portrayed him fantastically. However, when it comes to the screenplay, it is really boring. The film wants to say something more, but in the end leaves us with what we already know from the media. And whether you agree with Snowden or not really doesn’t matter. The essential is what happened on the Internet since the affair and it only confirmed the myths and theories that have been and still are revolving around the Internet. (14/01/2018)

In the end, I didn't mind too much that Oliver Stone glorifies his hero quite unreservedly and once again (yet like almost always) makes a sharp rebuke of a malevolent American administration. In fact, the film stands on pretty solid ground and, given Stone's usual tendentiousness, is moderate within reason. Yes, it's much more of a political statement than a "real person's story," but you simply can't teach old Oliver new tricks. It's worth mentioning, though, that cinematically it's once again an extravaganza, and I'm still very much enjoying that engaging visual style of Stone's. Incredible work with camera filters. A nice 4 stars. (22/02/2020)