Big brother is watching you. The famous line from George Orwell’s book “1984,” is the theme for this years eye-opening movie, “Snowden”, the content of which is so critical that several people risked their lives for it to be available.
Directed by Oliver Stone, the film “Snowden” is based on the true events that occurred during government whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) time serving with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) from the years 2004 to 2013.
The movie begins in Hong Kong; this is where Snowden was staying when he revealed government secrets regarding its surveillance programs to journalists from the “Guardian” in June of 2013.
The movie is structured by Snowden telling his story to the journalists through a series of flashbacks, all of which recount the most shocking revelations of his days working with the CIA and NSA.
Throughout these flashbacks, each of which more shocking than the last, we see the turmoil within Snowden as he wrestles with the morality of his work, and whether or not his actions to grant security to American’s justifies the ripping apart of their privacy.
We also observe through these flashbacks the gradual transformation of Snowden from the conforming good soldier of the U.S. government, to the questioning adversary of security vs. privacy. The content of Snowden’s personal life is also brought into question, including his physical disabilities and his relationship.
Watching this movie you will uncover terrifying truths about secrets that the U.S. government tried to keep quiet about its surveillance programs. The true events that unfold on screen, like the director of national intelligence committing a felony by lying in a congressional hearing, are nothing short of breathtaking.
The eeriness of the events become truly haunting when you realize they are every bit as real as you and I. Every email, text or photograph you’ve ever sent or received has been archived somewhere in some secret government base around the world.
“[If] you live a privileged life, living in Hawaii, living in paradise, making a ton of money. What would it take to make you leave everything behind?” said Snowden.
If you want to know the answer to that question, you must watch the movie “Snowden.”
