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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.