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Saturday, July 6, 2019

Closed Circuit (2013)

The interest of government to keep the extent of their surveillance out of the public eye, and the perceived need to quell the mistakes made are well played out here, and a bit more unsettling in the era of a President who wants to be a totalitarian leader.
There is a bombing at the start of the movie,  a suspect is in custody, and a trial set.  Some of the evidence in the case is so potentially explosive that not even the defendant himself is allowed to see it for himself. In such cases, defendants are allowed two lawyers—one who will defend him in public and a special advocate who defends him during the closed sessions. The two lawyers are not to talk to each other, but in this case they do, because they see a government conspiracy underneath the surface, and a government willing to commit murder to get the outcomes it wants.  They have been chosen exactly because of their weakness and not because of their brilliant lawyering.  If you fear your own government is out to get you, this will be a good reminder that it could be so.

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