What makes Citizenfour successful is that it takes a would-be traitor and turns him into a heroic icon. The director and filmmaker, Laura Poitras, seemed perfect for the role to construct such a thought provoking thriller. Her past basically speaks for itself; Citizenfour is the third film in her post 9/11 trilogy. Because of the type of film’s she’s worked on, she was placed on the government secret watch list. In a way, her past film from 2006, My Country, My Country, was something that helped get this one made in the first place. It was nominated for an Academy Award which subsequently put her under surveillance by the government. The content of the film was key in this incident happening—it was concerning Iraq under US occupation; she filmed
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The filmmaker’s voice resonates the moment title cards beginning appearing on screen, that shows Poitras’ path to getting to her subject safely. Title cards play an important role in the film as they always reveal certain email exchanges that occur throughout. They also signify the intensity being raised to a new level in certain circumstances as well. The dramatic monotonous music that plays with it creates an intense atmosphere. Mark Kermode, a film critic at The Guardian, speaks on how Poitras plays around the line of art and journalism (“Citizenfour Review 1). This case is evident in the first shot we see. Blurry lights above in a tunnel as the camera speeds through like a forbidden journey down the rabbit hole. This plays as an allegory to the film that the audience is about the experience. It also creates a feeling of something ominous fast approaching. In one particular scene, the fire alarm goes off which one might assume is just a test as it turns out to be. However, the moment that beat starts, the central character, Snowden, becomes a bit alarmed himself. From then on the alarm continually sneaks up on him by long intervals. It isn’t the content but the subtext the audience bears witness to during this occasion that truly adds the fuel to the flames of this realistic
The filmmaker’s voice resonates the moment title cards beginning appearing on screen, that shows Poitras’ path to getting to her subject safely. Title cards play an important role in the film as they always reveal certain email exchanges that occur throughout. They also signify the intensity being raised to a new level in certain circumstances as well. The dramatic monotonous music that plays with it creates an intense atmosphere. Mark Kermode, a film critic at The Guardian, speaks on how Poitras plays around the line of art and journalism (“Citizenfour Review 1). This case is evident in the first shot we see. Blurry lights above in a tunnel as the camera speeds through like a forbidden journey down the rabbit hole. This plays as an allegory to the film that the audience is about the experience. It also creates a feeling of something ominous fast approaching. In one particular scene, the fire alarm goes off which one might assume is just a test as it turns out to be. However, the moment that beat starts, the central character, Snowden, becomes a bit alarmed himself. From then on the alarm continually sneaks up on him by long intervals. It isn’t the content but the subtext the audience bears witness to during this occasion that truly adds the fuel to the flames of this realistic