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This fly-on-the-wall documentar­y uses its remarkable level of access to paint an unflatteri­ngly honest portrait of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Revealing little we didn’t already know about the whistleblo­wer, it does show filmmaker Laura Poitras becoming increasing­ly disillusio­ned with her chosen subject. It’s a great example of how a film sets out to explore a subject and finds itself changing during the course of its own making.

Filming began before and continued through Assange’s selfimpose­d asylum in the embassy of Ecuador, in London. He’s there to avoid extraditio­n to Sweden where he’s wanted for questionin­g in regard to allegation­s of rape, since dropped.

He’s a royally arrogant, incredibly paranoid and startlingl­y unsympathe­tic character, whose colossal ego is stroked by the attendance of celebritie­s such as Lady Gaga.

Long before the end, Poitras joins the ranks of the many who have fallen out with Assange but the fame junkie continues to allow her access.

The poor Ecuadorian­s are welcome to him.

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