Citizenfour

This documentary was awesome.We owe Ed Snowden a great deal of credit for exposing gross violations to the Constitution as it relates to illicit search and the right to privacy. Those administrators and legislators allowing this to happen and/or failing to prevent it should be sued for violating citizens' civil rights. When the violated citizens win the case, the administrators of said agencies and legislators having knowledge of the violations doing nothing to curb it should loose all their worldly assets including their social security and retirement benefits. They deserve to be relegated to homelessness for life as an appropriate punishment. Those deemed guilty don't deserve a jail cell.Thank you Mr. Snowden, Glen Greenwald, Wikileaks and all of those who helped expose this travesty of justice. If we were serious about national security, we'd strengthen our borders. Spying on citizens is simply an effort to control the population... not protect it.It's a sad day when a U.S. freedom loving hero is protected by the Russian President from U.S. authorities. What does that say about the United States government?

The most important film you will see all year - possibly ever - is “Citizenfour”. This is the single-most groundbreaking documentary I’ve ever laid eyes on, surpassing some of Michael Moore’s greatest works. The amount of people that will be affected due to the information in this film is staggering. Every American owes it to themselves to see this. It will undoubtedly change the way you operate and think in more ways than one.As you may already know, the film centers around Edward Snowden, the much-talked about ‘whistleblower’ that leaked an enormous amount of top secret information concerning the National Security Agency. It revealed the many ways that the NSA was spying on billions of people, creating a huge political conversation.However, “Citizenfour” in no way participates in that conversation. It doesn’t try to debate whether it was right or wrong for them to do that, it leaves all of that up to its subject. That’s one of the countless reasons why it succeeds. It isn’t a documentary that needs a ton of flare, it’s actually quite the opposite. It states the facts, lets us decide how we feel about it, and all in the most simplistic and brilliant manner.The majority of it takes place in one hotel room where Laura Poitras (the director of the film) and Glenn Greenwald (the first journalist to leak the story) listen to everything Snowden has to say. We watch them go over the program files and documents that serve as the evidence of what the NSA has done - scenes that include astounding stats and figures - those being some of the most powerful moments I’ve ever witnessed. It’s a gut-punch of a movie, but one that’s undeniably needed. Don’t miss this.

Great documentary, a must see for anyone who is interested in history and freedom!

Laura Poitras’ 2014 film about NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, presents a young, smart, good-humored guy who is incredibly courageous. He tells of his early passion about the positive potential of the internet and his growing alarm at its use by the U.S. government to spy on its own citizens with no limits or controls. His well-planned revelations are revealed in a hotel room in Hong Kong to The Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewan MacAskill under the watchful eye of Poitras’ camera. The film also spends time with William Binney, a government intelligence analyst who turned whistleblower to protest abuses he saw taking place in the government’s actions after 9/11. As a result, Binney was raided by FBI agents who stormed into his house with guns drawn which shows the lie in the claim–made by President Obama and others in the government and media–that everything would have been fine if Snowden had gone through “proper channels” to make his revelations to the American public. We also see Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) Keith Alexander both lying to Congress–presumably under oath–about the extent of the government’s spying on American citizens. Poitras was placed on a secret government watch list and thereafter stopped and searched dozens of times as she tried to enter the U.S. This harassment prompted her to move to Berlin. Greenwald lives in Brazil. His partner was detained for hours in a London airport. Snowden remains in asylum in Moscow where his partner has joined him. You owe it to yourself and to your country to see this historic film.

This was one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time! Even though it's all documented footage, the director does an excellent job of crafting the film with a tone that's comparable to the works of David Fincher which I was very impressed by. Snowden's story is fascinating and it's very interesting to watch it unfold on camera. The only real complaint I have about is that it doesn't go into a whole lot of detail about the NSA and what he was fighting against so make sure to do some research if you are unfamiliar with the story before watching. Otherwise, this is a must-watch as it's one of the most well-crafted and important documentaries I've seen in a long time!

This is a really good doc on Mr. Snowden, and what he did and found was quite shocking at the time.But hat he failed to predict is that NO ONE CARES anymore. While the NSA, etc. may have temporarily stopped the data gathering that Snowden exposed, who's to say they are no still doing it? And how would you even know?I think most people know have a general expectation that everything they do will be recorded or tracked.

fascinating

Edward Snowden is in these times the embodiment of an antihero. The film doesn't bet for any position. It exposes without fissures Snowden's viewpoint about his beliefs and concerns.Intriguing question because it deals with two main questions of funadamental transcendence. What are the frontiers between security and liberty? And what's the prize you've to pay in order to maintain both issues coexisting in a comfortable zone?Fascinating, revelating and demolishing.

A must see...unfortunately.

excellent...God bless you Snowden