Citizenfour

Edward Snowden is sitting in his Hong Kong hotel room on his bed, laptop in hand, with a red sheet over his head. He’s taking certain precautions. Sitting in the same room are journalists Glenn Greenwald and “Citizenfour’s” director Laura Poitras. Snowden jokingly condescends about how they’re not being completely secure online, and then very casually remembers that the VOIP phone in his room could quite easily be tapped. “I don’t think that anything would surprise me at this point,” Greenwald says in response.

Poitras’s documentary takes you so deep down the rabbit hole that just about anything could happen, and no surprise would be beyond belief. “Citizenfour” is a real life spy story, the stuff of “All the President’s Men” and “The Conversation” in which a slow, sinister, mysterious burn can reveal the greatest twists and controversies. It’s a chilling, tingling documentary about how Snowden first wrapped Poitras and Greenwald into this mess and how he finally got out. Though it is as tense, entertaining and emotionally powerful as any fictional movie, “Citizenfour” and its subject matter makes for also the most important movie of the year.

So much was made and said about Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding the NSA. Was he a patriot or a traitor? What does it mean to have privacy in a digital age? What was up with Snowden’s stubbly beard?

“Citizenfour” rests in Snowden’s corner, certainly not making the case against his actions, but Poitras’s political agenda with the film is almost secondary. Nearly half an hour goes by before Snowden’s name is even revealed to the Guardian journalists. What she reveals is the meticulous diligence with which Snowden planned his escape and his unveiling.

The documentary’s opening shot looks like something out of Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” with a score that feels like it’s from Trent Reznor’s work in “Gone Girl” (it’s actually a track from Nine Inch Nails’ “Ghosts”), revealing a dark, curving tunnel of lights that evokes a portal leading to the truth at the other end. Poitras’s voice reveals a message from a figure named “CITIZENFOUR”. The messenger warns that even contacting a journalist puts them both in danger and at risk of being surveilled. From the start we’re proceeding with caution, and the blinking cursor in all of Poitras’s digital conversations is a scary symbol of things to come.

What we learn then is just a taste of all Snowden knows to be possible, and how regardless of whether the NSA’s actions are justified, it introduces a new standard for how we remain private and visible in our digital lives. “What people used to call freedom and liberty is now called privacy, and all in the same breath,” explains Greenwald, and if everyone is being surveilled, then no one is eligible to sue.

What this means politically or ethically is not discussed, but Snowden makes a point to be delicate and measured with his words in front of the journalists, repeatedly saying he does not wish to make the story about him. And yet unlike the reporting, “Citizenfour” is all about Snowden, concerned with how he intends to get his story out, and explaining the nuance as to why this is such a touchy issue.

Should he come out immediately with his identity and be open, he not only has to fight the perception of the media, but also risk the safety of his girlfriend and even the time with which he has to relay all that needs to be said before moving into hiding. Snowden, Greenwald and Poitras even ponder the question that putting his face out in the open could be giving the NSA a present they would’ve otherwise spent months piecing together. Every choice he makes and every word he says on camera, Poitras makes Snowden out to be powerfully plain spoken; it’s wonderful drama.

Poitras takes “Citizenfour” to the next level not just with the cloak and dagger mystery but the emotional impact for Edward Snowden the person, not just Edward Snowden the informant. We learn his girlfriend does not even know about his intentions, and in choosing to reveal his secrets now, he’s leaving her in the dark. And some of the documentary’s best moments reveal Snowden’s insecurities, fears and careful scrutiny. When a fire alarm goes off, the siren sparks a fear that the door could come crashing in at any moment, but Snowden and Poitras approach it with nervous levity. And in preparation to meet with Chinese diplomats in his fight to receive asylum, Poitras does well to observe how careful he is in tending to even his physical appearance.

Taking a break from the journalists, Snowden quietly stares out the window in an eerie moment searching for hidden demons that may bring his story to an end. How sad it is to always be looking over your shoulder. “Citizenfour” takes this spy movie trope and gives it a real name and face we all recognize. But instead of the rigid chin of an action star, he’s just one with a stubbly beard.

4 stars