Snowden

At the beginning of last year, I reviewed the documentary Citizenfour, which was a blow-by-blow story of Edward Snowden that was made by filmmaker Laura Poitras, who was one of the people Snowden contacted to tell his story right. That film was a masterpiece and when I heard that there was a biopic being made about Snowden, I dismissed it straight away, believing that it would not be able to convey the weight of what he did. But after watching it, I realised that the point wasn't to show people what he had done, but rather to humanise him in the eyes of a public who still vilify him as a traitor.

Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bright eyed young special forces recruit who is hopeful for a career in the military, but after he breaks both legs, he is discharged and looks for a new way to serve his country. He soon comes upon an opportunity in working for the CIA as an intelligence analyst after going through rigorous training under Corbin O'Brien (Rhys Ifans). His various jobs soon take him around the world and he learns that the NSA has a program that allows them to gather information from everyone in the world. Knowing this makes Snowden increasingly paranoid to the point where he clashes with his girlfriend Lindsay (Shailene Woodley) because he wants to protect her. Soon his conscience gets the better of him and he decides to expose the truth to a handful of journalists including Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto).

Oliver Stone is definitely someone who knows how to make a movie that will appeal to a lot of people, which is something that Citizenfour may have been lacking. While it doesn't go into a great amount of detail about what Snowden leaked, it gives a general overview of what the US government was doing (and still is). This works to the films benefit because any in depth analysis would leave audiences confused. Stone's style of over the top filmmaking draws you into the film and makes you feel a lot of empathy for the characters. This is good because the point of the film is to humanise Snowden. A lot of the media around him portrays him as a cold traitor who has no acknowledgement of the danger he caused with his leak. That couldn't be further from the truth and Stone attempts to show that he is really a patriot who was looking out for his fellow citizens. While the majority of performances are good and exactly what you'd expect from a movie this size, the surprising parts come from the cameos that a director like Oliver Stone can get. Timothy Olyphant, Logan Marshall-Green and Nicolas Cage all pop in small roles. The Nicolas Cage cameo is quite surprising because he's the last person you'd expect to see in this film.

Some of the problems I have with this film have to do with the fact that some of the events of the film have been documented in Citizenfour, yet they are shown differently in this film. Snowden's communication with Poitras is rushed and limited to a single email, whereas in reality the communication took place over many months and only after he failed to contact Glenn Greenwald through a secure means. That's a small thing that was jarring for me and I'm sure would effect others who have seen both. Stone also drags the film out by added smaller details (that go into humanising Snowden) which seem irrelevant. Snowden's diagnosis of epilepsy and his relationship problems really slow the film down in some key parts of the film. Also there is too little time devoted to the time he spent in Hong Kong (probably the most important part of the story). The inclusion of the real Snowden at the end of the film also throws some doubt onto JGL's portrayal of him. In his last couple of films JGL has been making some strange vocal choices and after being able to compare his voice to that of Snowden, you can hear the definite difference.

I had thought that Snowden would present the story in an ambiguous way, leaving you to make up your own mind on whether or not he had done the right thing. But now after seeing the film it's clear that Stone has made it in line with his own left-wing leanings. I'm not saying that his own politics had any input on whether the film is good or not. He has made a film that may not stand the test of time, but for time we live in it's a very good movie.

War Movie Month: Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

The second film in Oliver Stone's trilogy of Vietnam War films focuses more on the rhetoric of why and how people get caught up in fighting them and the affects that this fighting has. Not only on the mind, but the body too.

Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) is a teenager who grew up in a small town in Long Island. After seeing JFK's "Ask not what your country can do" speech as a young boy, he has grown up with an intense love for his country. As soon as he is able to do so, Ron joins the Marines and is shipped off to fight in Vietnam, where he is made a paraplegic from being shot in the neck. Once he returns home, he realises that not everyone the same die hard patriotism.

While this is far from being a great movie (I have some minor problems with its pacing), Stone does make a great statement about how young men get caught up in the fervour of war. Kovic grew up with the patriotism that pervaded Cold War-era America and after hearing the tales of his father and how the indoctrination of "The Greatest Generation" being so because they fought in the Second World War, it only makes sense that he wishes to enlist in the Marines and fight for his country. It is only after he is severely injured that he comes to realise that the Vietnam War was a wrong war to be fighting.

This movie has some extraordinary performances, but the majority of the movie is dominated by one. Cruise's Kovic is scarred by things that he did during the war and spends most of his time trying to atone for these things, but is ultimately unable to find peace. Willem Dafoe is quite extraordinary as a creepy wheelchair-bound vet that Ron meets in Mexico. The standout performance for me has always been Raymond J. Barry as Ron's father, who makes me cry without a doubt every time.

The soundtrack to this movie is probably the best part. Despite the best efforts to try and make "Moon River" the theme song (complete with a creepy drunken Tom Cruise rendition), The Temptations "My Girl" does a much better job at capturing the sound of the era. This is backed up by a great score from John Williams that follows the highs and lows of the film.

Verdict: A captivating film about the effects that war has on the people who fight in it. 

War Movie Month: Platoon (1986)

With the vast array of Vietnam war films that dominated 1970s & 80s Hollywood cinema, Oliver Stone's Platoon could have easily become lost amongst the wealth of what many would consider 'Apocalypse Now copycats' (despite many having come before). But Platoon set itself apart in many ways - including being one of the first films to prove that Charlie Sheen can act - and has become a worthy classic.

Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a college drop-out that volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam. Taylor is assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry Division where their task is to wait in the jungles near the Cambodian border, ready to ambush passing North Vietnamese soldiers. Although Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) is technically Platoon leader, the stern Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) often barks out the orders.

Taylor is eventually accepted by a section of the group that have a clubhouse where the smoke marijuana and try to forget the situation they're in. Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) takes Taylor under his wing. Other notable Platoon members are Bunny (Kevin Dillon), a savage and immature soldier, and Sergeant "Red" O'Neill (John C. McGinley), who's charismatic, but generally cowardly. Tension starts to rise in the Platoon and divisions form, especially after a horrific attack by the platoon on a village.

The first in Stone's Vietnam trilogy, he began production by sending the cast on an intensive training exercise in the Philippines, with the aim being to lower their morale to the point that they were broken down and had a "don't give a damn attitude". The cast have since said that the exercise help them both get into character, and bond with each other, a crucial element for a platoon. Stone's purpose with Platoon was to use his personal military experiences to form a realistic representation of the conflict, free of cliches, just showing it as it is. This makes for some unique and equally harrowing viewing.

As an audience, we're dropped into the action just as the soldiers are, with nowhere to run from the horrific sights of Platoon. The night scenes are realistically lit so that the action becomes disorientating, with muzzle flashes only aiding slightly during the ambushes. The film has a hazy-tone to it that accentuates the heat of the Vietnam climate. Ex-marine, Leo Cawley said in his essay on the film (well worth a read by the way) that "The details are authentic and compelling", and if he is to be believed, then it could be said that Platoon achieves it's 'anti-war' status in a natural manner, through realism not rhetoric.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Charlie Sheen's leading role in Platoon is one of his finest performances of his career. Playing the young and fresh Chris Taylor, spurred on by his families military roots, Sheen brings an innocence to the role that is crucial in the development of the character. Willem Dafoe is his usual borderline psychotic, yet still trustworthy self, Tom Berenger is an emotionless badass, and John C. McGinley, whilst slightly overacting, is certainly lively as Red. Also, keep your eyes open for a small cameo from a young Johnny Depp.

The sound design is equally an attempt by Stone to place the viewer in the closest approximation to his experiences as possible. The various chatter from different Platoon members is subtly muffled, the gunfire and explosions are (whilst still fairly Hollywood) not completely overdone, and the soundtrack features appropriate era music from Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Rascals, the classic Adagio for Strings as the theme, and a nod to Apocalypse Now with Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries

Platoon would not be as poignant a movie if it weren't for the level of meticulous detail and realism that Stone draws from his experiences, and indeed in the characters, many of which he based off of his squad-mates. It's the confronting nature of it that makes it a true classic, and by far one of the best (if not the best of the) Vietnam War movies.