Citizenfour - B

Rated R, 114 minutes
Wes's Grade: B

Riveting, fascinating documentary "Citizenfour" explores surveillance, privacy issues

U.S. surveillance programs, especially on its own citizens, has been a hot topic for some time, and raises numerous issues regarding privacy and security. This is explored in the provocative, relevant documentary "Citzenfour" from documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, who has examined the subject in her previous documentaries, the Oscar-nominated "My Country, My Country" (2006) and "The Oath" (2010). In January 2013, Poitras started receiving encrypted e-mails from someone identifying himself as "citizen four," who was ready to blow the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, she (along with journalist Glenn Greenwald, who plays a prominent role here) flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her and the recordings are the basis of the film. Poitras' often fascinating and compelling documentary "Citizenfour" is a must-see, though admittedly - while this is very much a pertinent issue - some of it is a little dry. Otherwise known as "the Snowden documentary," this is the third part of what Poitras considers a trilogy following her aforementioned documentaries "My Country, My Country" and "The Oath," though this one could have wider appeal. The film is best when it looks at the wider impact that Snowden's revelations have upon the general public; occasionally it gets bogged down in too many mundane details that occasionally bog it down. Even with that, "Citizenfour's" apprehensive, even nervous, energy as it unfolds is part of its appeal and one of the main reasons to see it, though this may not have considerable mainstream appeal. It doesn't seek to resolve the issues it raises, but it does make you think the next time you make a phone call, text or visit a website, how and if that's being used by the NSA for security purposes. However you feel about Snowden, "Citizenfour" is a satisfying, worthy and thought-provoking documentary about our privacy, or lack thereof.