Citizenfour

History happens in real time in Citizenfour, a behind-closed-doors account of Edward Snowden's decision to reveal the dizzying extent of government surveillance programs. Much of Laura Poitras' documentary consists of long interviews with Snowden in the Hong Kong hotel room where he was holed up in June 2013, divulging everything he knew to Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald. The result is a portrait of the whistle-blower as neither hero nor traitor.

Snowden is a reluctant protagonist who insists early and often that he is not the story, making the film's very existence a strange artifact from the outset: It puts the spotlight on a man who'd prefer to stay in the background. Though it's rarely been more difficult to distinguish between the importance of a film's subject matter and the quality of the director's craft, Citizenfour's ground-level vibe and Poitras' necessary cloak-and-dagger tactics make the documentary like a '70s paranoia thriller with real-world consequences. Can you imagine a documentary about Mark Felt—aka Deep Throat—with footage of him meeting with Washington Post reporters in a parking garage?

The stakes are high from the film's beginning. When Snowden initially attempts to make contact with Poitras, he identifies himself only as "citizenfour," and he insists on carrying out all communication via encrypted messages. As he reveals ever-darker truths about the National Security Agency's far-reaching power, the risk only increases.

Yet there are also instances of near-levity. In one scene, we see Snowden fuss with his hair in the bathroom mirror while a story about him is broadcast on CNN in the background. He's reached a point of no return, and watching him jump willingly into the unknown is as terrifying as it is thrilling.

Those familiar with Snowden's story may complain at the paucity of new details, but what Citizenfour lacks in revelatory information it makes up for with insight into its subject's motivations. Snowden is meek and articulate, touching on everything from worries about his loved ones' safety to how he's more willing to risk imprisonment or "any other negative outcome" than surrender his intellectual freedom. Was his a Pyrrhic victory? Well over a year later, we're still waiting for the effects to play out.

Critic's Grade: B

SEE IT: Citizenfour is rated R. It opens Friday at Living Room Theaters.

WWeek 2015