No bells or whistles is an understatement concerning Citizenfour. The recipient of Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Oscars is the third government expose by filmmaker Laura Poitras to leave viewers overwhelmed with feelings of outrage and impotence in regards to their dwindling liberties.
The documentary follows Poitras and The Guardian journalist, Glenn Greenwald, as they make acquaintance with former system administrator for the CIA, and world famous whistleblower --the man, the legend-- Edward Snowden.
Shot in the direct cinéma vérité style, normcore to the core, we the audience are a fly on the wall in Snowden’s Hong Kong hotel room; listening intently as Snowden, who looks and sounds much like a professor of Computer Science, explains with profound detail just how the National Security Agency is illegally and indiscriminately spying on American citizens and foreigners alike at every given moment. Although most of us are not fluent in hyper-nerd-computer-genius, Snowden, at the request of Greenwald, does his best to simplify the crimes of the NSA.
Poitras’ understated, matter-of-fact style of documentation allows for the information of Citizenfour to remain forefront; the candid, anti-editorialized, and often run-on presentation ensures audiences will not lose focus of what is important – “the balance of power between the citizenry and the government is becoming that of the ruling and the ruled as opposed to…the elected and electorate.”
While the influx of information is at first numbing, then infuriating, watching the whistleblower blow the whistle in real-time, is genuinely riveting; a true thriller.
Shot in the direct cinéma vérité style, normcore to the core, we the audience are a fly on the wall in Snowden’s Hong Kong hotel room; listening intently as Snowden, who looks and sounds much like a professor of Computer Science, explains with profound detail just how the National Security Agency is illegally and indiscriminately spying on American citizens and foreigners alike at every given moment. Although most of us are not fluent in hyper-nerd-computer-genius, Snowden, at the request of Greenwald, does his best to simplify the crimes of the NSA.
Poitras’ understated, matter-of-fact style of documentation allows for the information of Citizenfour to remain forefront; the candid, anti-editorialized, and often run-on presentation ensures audiences will not lose focus of what is important – “the balance of power between the citizenry and the government is becoming that of the ruling and the ruled as opposed to…the elected and electorate.”
While the influx of information is at first numbing, then infuriating, watching the whistleblower blow the whistle in real-time, is genuinely riveting; a true thriller.
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