WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

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More a biopic of web visionary Josh Harris than the dissection of the ramped-up state of global surveillance that its title implies, documentarian Ondi Timoner's thought-provoking film is a history lesson of Harris's meteoric rise and equally rapid downfall during the dotcom era.

Joshua Harris (a.k.a. the "Warhol of the Web") is a combination of performance artist and Internet innovator--he founded the web-based television network Pseudo.com — who foretold the connected virtual world that today's computer users share on Skype, Facebook, and Twitter.

At the height of his $80 million net-worth glory, Harris abandoned his company in order to pursue a live-in art instillation he dubbed project "Quiet."

One hundred people lived in an underground bunker "hotel" in Manhattan for one month, where their every movement was monitored by hundreds of cameras strategically placed throughout the facility.

Harris experimented with fascistic mind control methods that lent dark overtones to the claustrophobic environment.

A well-stocked arsenal and shooting gallery of semi-automatic firearms provided its inhabitants with amusement. After "Quiet" got shut down by the NYPD, Harris put together "We Live in Public," in which he live-streamed continuous video of he and his girlfriend living together.

The stressful experiment ended when Harris suffered a nervous breakdown. Filled with obligatory interviews with family, friends, co-workers and Harris's archive footage of observation video projects, "We Live in Public" is a cautionary look at how surveillance affects individuals.

Far from the Wim Wenders's "End of Violence" premise, it might just signify the end of the world as we know it.

Not Rated. 90 mins.