Movie Review: “Citizenfour” (2014)
I had the pleasure of seeing the World Premiere of Laura Poitras’s final installment of her post-9/11 America trilogy “Citizenfour” on October 10th. I think it’s only appropriate to begin this piece with how I felt after the screening. Here’s the tweet I wrote while the credits were still rolling in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.
Huge standing ovation! I still have chills. #CITIZENFOUR #NYFF
— William George-Louis (@WillGeorgeLouis) October 11, 2014
Even the programmers of the New York Film Festival stated that this was one of the longest standing ovations they had ever seen in the history of the festival. I tried to take a picture of the filmmaking team, but all my photos were out of focus. My hands were still shaking well after the film ended. “Citizenfour” is captivating in ways many fiction films strive to be but few manage to achieve.
The project began three years ago, as Poitras had been developing a documentary about whistleblowers. Early in 2013, she began to get encrypted emails from an anonymous government official who credited themself as the title of the film. Through a series of exchanges, Poitras’s focus shifted on this new source. She knew she had something special she could capture and kept the project under wraps for as long she could.
Glen helps Ed to come out
With the help of The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, Poitras arranged to meet her subject in Hong Kong. Within minutes of their first encounter, the camera began rolling. It’s exquisite to hear the findings within the reports, but seeing the series of events unfolding within the journalist’s point of view makes the film fascinating.
Nothing new is revealed in terms of information. We just get to see a closer look at who Edward Snowden is as a person and the story behind his methods. This is heavy subject material with serious consequences, but we also see some lighter moments. There is a really hilarious scene where Ed needles Glen about the length of his password. Coming from Snowden’s philosophy of “assume your adversary is capable of one trillion guesses a second,” it’s also not surprising to see a scene where he is entering sensitive information into his own personal laptop with a blanket over his head.
All-around badass Laura Poitras
Laura Poitras accomplished a lot with this project. She and her team of journalists were awarded the Pulitzer Prize and as well as other awards for their reportings. Not only did Poitras complete her trilogy, it became really well-rounded. In 2006, around the time of her Academy Award nominated documentary “My Country, My Country”, she was placed upon a watch list. In a span of six years, she was detained at airports while flying international over 40 times. Her style is to remain behind the camera and never be present. However, she is an integral part of “Citizenfour.” Now, she has definitive proof about the hardships she has faced because of her work.
I was very fortunate to be able to attend such an unforgettable screening. Edward Snowden’s parents were present that evening, and the ending of the film provided them new information about their son they had no idea about. “Citizenfour” concludes with Poitras and Greenwald returning a year later to visit Snowden in Russia where he has been granted asylum. They brought with them some new evidence that causes Snowden to have a major reaction. Ultimately, things look positive towards more people disclosing these violations of privacy and becoming transparent.
A Radius-TWC feature in a limited release on October 24th.
Overall: “Citizenfour” succeeds in creating awareness of the American public’s privacy being infringed upon and taking action. We the people have the right to know. This year has provided us with some of the most riveting cinema that could never be recaptured by brave individuals.
My rating: 9.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Directed by: Laura Poitras
Starring: Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, William Binney, Julian Assange and Jacob Appelbaum
Unrated
Trailer:
