Citizenfour

When filmmaker Laura Poitras received her first encrypted email from a certain Citizenfour in January 2013, she had no idea what explosive information this contact would provide her with - information that would cause a worldwide stir, political tensions and heated discussions. By now, everyone probably knows Citizenfour's real name: behind this pseudonym hid Edward Snowden, who worked for four years as a private contractor for the NSA. During this time, Snowden came across evidence of massive surveillance of internet and telephone data, not only of US citizens. Rather, it involved worldwide surveillance of intelligence agencies, politicians, but also private citizens. After several months of communicating via encrypted emails, Citizenfour and Poitras agreed to meet, which was to take place in Hong Kong.

Together with journalist Glenn Greenwald, the filmmaker and the computer specialist met in a hotel room, where the full extent of this global scandal would be revealed over the following eight days. Poitras captured those eight days with her camera. As the concluding part of her trilogy about the USA after September 11, she now brings this fateful meeting to cinemas as Citizenfour. The result leaves a somewhat ambivalent impression. That the documentary is important is beyond question. Regardless of whether one considers whistleblower Snowden a hero or a criminal, his revelations raise many fundamental questions that urgently need to be discussed and should therefore be repeatedly called into the collective memory of the citizens.

In addition, it is simply very exciting to watch how a person puts his freedom and perhaps even his life on the line for his convictions. This realization lends a very oppressive atmosphere to the cinematic reappraisal of the eight-day meeting in Hong Kong. Thus, the documentary almost seems like a classic political thriller in the style of The Incorruptibles, although in this case the whole thing is even more explosive and important, since what is revealed here really affects everyone. So it can be said that everyone should watch Citizenfour. On the other hand, it has to be said that the production itself drags a bit, which makes it difficult to give the film the attention it deserves.

You might argue that Snowden's revelations have enough relevance to stir up the audience and keep them engaged for the two hours of running time. However, many of the facts presented here are already known and the film gets its explosiveness primarily from the fact that you as a viewer can be here very close to an event that somehow seems somewhat unspectacular, but which ultimately has tremendously far-reaching consequences. Poitras shows this very nicely through the excerpts from news broadcasts or Senate hearings that surround the actual core of the film. So by the end it really becomes clear what Snowden has actually achieved.

Citizenfour is thus a very explosive, stirring and relevant film in terms of content. Stylistically, it's good, but it also has some lengths to it, through which some viewers, however interested they may be in the subject matter, will surely struggle not to doze off here for a moment. Nevertheless: one of the most important political documentaries of the year and therefore also: absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp