While in the process of developing a film about surveillance in the post-9/11 era, Laura Poitras, a well regarded documentary filmmaker, starts receiving encrypted emails from a mysterious source calling himself "Citizen Four". Citizen Four is about to blow the whistle on a massive surveillance program run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies all around the world. Along with renowned journalist Gleen Greenwald, Pointer flys to Hong Kong to meet with "Citizen Four", who turns out to be Edward Snowden himself. Laura Poitras' Citizenfour is a remarkable documentary that captures the day-by-day, hour-by-hour plight of Edward Snowden, one of the largest and most important whistler-blowers in history. Citizenfour plays more like a thriller than a documentary, capturing the paranoia, anxiety, and tension revolving around a man in Snowden who has essentially given up his way of life for the perceived betterment of others. This is a film that effectively shatters the notion that whistle-blowing is an act of treason, showcasing the importance of a man standing up against a powerful system intent on taking away its civilians freedoms. No matter where your politics lie, Citizenfour is a genuine film that revels the horror of civilization's growing loss of privacy in a digital age. While the film itself is a remarkable time-capsule of a world-shattering news story, Citizenfour never forgets Ed Snowden the person, capturing the man behind the infamous leaks. Poitras beautifully captures the mediatative state of a man who has effectively given up his life as he knows it, capturing the anxiety, paranoia, and conviction he has about his actions. Honestly, I can't imagine how anyone could view what Ed Snowden did as wrong, with Poitras creating a vivid and convincing portrait of a man who sacrifices himself for the betterment of others. Citizenfour is an intoxicating portrait of the current state of privacy, beautifully capturing a behind the scenes look of Ed Snowden, showing us the man behind the facade.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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