Kremlin reviews Oliver Stone's film Snowden, terms it 'a must-see' and 'top quality'

Russia has not only offered asylum to Edward Snowden, they have also given the recently-released Olivier Stone-film about the NSA whistleblower, a great review. A Kremlin spokesperson said the film, which casts Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead, is "top quality".

Russian news agency RIA Novosti (via THR) quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying that the drama based on Snowden's release of sensitive information from the NSA regarding their illegal spying on millions of people around the world, has "a brilliant script".

"What is most important, it is nearly a documentary," Peskov said. "This is an excellent opportunity for everyone to learn what actually happened. It's a must-see." The movie released in Russia on 15 September and unlike the US version — which released a day later, on 16 September — has an additional four minutes of film time.

The film (written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald) is based on Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena's book Vremya spruta (Time of the Octopus) and British journalist Luke Harding's nonfiction book The Snowden Files.

During his private screening of the film, Snowden too had words of praise for the work done and said it made him "uncomfortable" because of its accuracy. He said that he was "cautiously optimistic" that the film would help grant him a pardon from the US government but those hopes were crushed soon enough.

A day before the US release, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence recommended Barack Obama not to pardon the former CIA employee for the leak and stated that he was not a whistle blower but a traitor. "Edward Snowden is no hero – he's a traitor who wilfully betrayed his colleagues and his country. He put our service members and the American people at risk after perceived slights by his superiors," said Chairman Devin Nunes, in a statement.

Watch the trailer for Snowden, The Movie below: