The East.

Director:	Zal Batmanglij
Country:	USA
Year:	2012
Running Time:	116 mins
Principle Cast:	Brit Marling	Sarah Moss
	Alexander Skarsgard	Benji
	Ellen Page	Izzy
	Toby Kebbell	Doc
	Shiloh Fernandez	Luca
	Patricia Clarkson	Sharon

Introduced at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013 by Zal Batmanglij as a movie that can be approached from different prospective and viewpoints, which I suspect he meant depended on your personnel view of the films subject matter. It's a thriller about a question that is getting ever harder to answer: the difference between right and wrong and how far you would go to punish those that in your opinion are carrying out the wrongs.

                                                                                                                    

There's always two sides in a conflict and in this case it involves a group of eco-warriors known as The East who set out to punish corporate terrorists who earn millions while ordinary people are left to suffer the consequences of there evil crimes against the environment and public health. Ex FBI agent Sarah Moss is recruited by independent security firm Hiller Brood to infiltrate an anarchist collective in an attempt to put a stop to what are known as 'jams', operations carried out by the group against the evils of modern corporations. Sarah begins to question the morals of her assignment and therefore has to decide where her sympathies lie.

Brit Marling and Batmanglij wrote the story in 2009 after the collapse in 2008 of the Corporate Banks that left ordinary bank employees out of work and feeling cheated by the system. The pair questioned if there was there some way, cinematically, of getting their own back on these uncaring organizations. They both went to live among various collectives for 12 months gathering up their political prospective which enabled them to build up there ideas for the story. This film is a thriller with a difference and says a lot about modern America where serious ecological matters are not spoken about openly and maybe, just maybe the character of Sarah Moss reflects the real life case of Edward Snowden?