Review of Citizenfour (2014) by Opinionatedguy — 23 Mar 2015

When I heard that there is going to be a documentary about Edward Snowden, I reacted like this: “Of course there is. It’s a news current event so a documentary is needed about him and the event.” What I did not expect is a documentary that documents the entire scandal from start to finish on location by Laura Poitras with her camera as she documents with her first e-mail from “CitizenFour” aka Edward Snowden to Snowden’s post-interview in Russia.

What makes this documentary so intriguing to watch was that it feels like you’re watching a political thriller movie that happens to have no script at all because it’s all real and that’s scary.

I have to praise Laura Poitras for forming a story that we can follow in this documentary and it basically helps me understand more about the situation.

This documentary also makes it easy to root for the people involved in this leaking especially Edward Snowden. This documentary also helped me to understand Edward Snowden a little bit more. He is neither a hero nor a traitor, he is just a human being that worked in a government job that has policies that he is disgusted with, that he wants to make sure everyone is reminded that the government is fooling the public and abusing their power because he is concerned about his fellow human beings’ privacy and freedom.

CitizenFour is a documentary that I feel like everyone should watch if they are concerned about their privacy and freedom. On top of that, it feels like a political thriller at the same time and that enhances the viewing experience.