《时代周刊》：2014十大最佳电影

8.Citizenfour

8.《第四公民》

Calling himself Citizenfour, Edward Snowden sent encrypted email messages to doc filmmaker Laura Poitras that hinted at extraordinary revelations about the National Security Agency’s database on U.S. citizens. In a Hong Kong hotel room in June 2013, the Booz Allen IT analyst met Poitras and journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill to spill his and his computer’s guts. The subject of this fascinating, edifying and creepy film has a nerdish star quality: poised and articulate, he’s also more than a little anxious. Snowden correctly anticipates what’s in store for him — official pariah status in the U.S. — and makes clear that the need for the public to know the range of NSA eavesdropping is worth the price he will pay. The glare of Poitras’s camera gives the young man a ghostly pallor; he could be a specter reaching out from the other side to warn the living. A true-life spy thriller and horror movie,Citizenfouris also history in the making: a portrait of a man at the very moment he chooses to enrich and darken Americans’ understanding of what their government knows about them.

自称“第四公民”的爱德华·斯诺登将加密的电子邮件发给纪录片导演罗拉·柏翠丝，揭露了美国国家安全局监控美国民众的数据库，进而轰动全球。2013年6月，斯诺登在一家香港的宾馆里与柏翠丝和《卫报》记者格仑·格林沃德见面，全然吐露了“棱镜门”事件的来源去脉。这部影片精彩又不失启迪，但也让人有些毛骨悚然。平静镇定和能言善辩的斯诺登在该片中显得十分担忧，展现了一丝“极客”的呆气。他正确预测了自己将在美国政界遭受四面楚歌的命运，还清楚地表示，为了能够让美国民众了解他们被国家安全局窃听的范围之广，他付出任何代价都是值得的。斯诺登在摄像机的光下显得幽灵般的苍白，好似一个从另一个时空穿越而来，警示着芸芸众生。《第四公民》不仅是一部真实的谍战片，更是一部正在发生着的历史。它刻画了一个男人，在关键的节点义无反顾地选择了曝光政府行为。斯诺登的选择，让每个美国人明白了政府实际上有多“了解”他们，并跌入了失望的深渊。