Citizenfour, film review: A front-row seat for Edward Snowden's extraordinary revelations
(NC) Laura Poitras, 120 mins
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.This extraordinary documentary pushes the kind of "Direct Cinema" patented by Robert Drew and Albert Maysles into a new dimension. Laura Poitras was the original confidante of the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
She films him in the cramped Hong Kong hotel room in which, hiding out from the world, he hands over the classified documents revealing the mass surveillance misdeeds of the National Security Agency to the journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill.
Snowden ("I go by Ed") comes across as a charismatic but very level-headed figure who has thought through his actions in the minutest detail. He is politely spoken, has a dry sense of humour and projects a sense of integrity. If he does seem a little paranoid, you can hardly blame him.
Poitras structures the film as if it is a version of All the President's Men for the digital age. The difference is that her Deep Throat is on camera and ready to be "nailed to the cross". The details about the extent of GCHQ and NSA snooping are old news but still shocking. The fascination of the documentary lies in the fact that Poitras was there with her camera at the crucial moments, when Snowden was sharing the information that would cause such convulsions all over the world.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments