Échelon, le pouvoir secret
***/****
directed by David Korn-Brzoza
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover This is a sometimes gripping, sometimes irritating film about international espionage and those who direct it. An information-gathering organization with tentacles in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, "Echelon" long ago abandoned the post-WWII directives that created it and started gathering intelligence on private citizens through highly questionable means. Now that the electronic and information ages are upon us, Echelon, the NSA, and various satellite organizations can listen in on your telephone calls and whatever other electronic transmissions you might be making; the Anglo-American coalition uses this information not only to fight whatever aggressors might lurk in other countries but also to get an illegal economic edge on other countries. This is all disturbing stuff, but director David Korn-Brzoza doesn't seem to trust it. Instead of letting the facts and his interview subjects speak for themselves, he creates a sophisticated song-and-dance out of split screens, multiple camera positions, and assorted visual editorials that distract from the main event. Besides interfering with our ability to grasp the material, this has the counter-productive effect of getting us on a masochistic high, crushing us with ominous aestheticism when it ought to be rousing us to action. Nevertheless, the whole routine is expertly made, and the subject itself is so important that it can be forgiven an overzealous director.
