We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks - film review

Documentary maker Alex Gibney turns his attention to Julian Assange in this entertaining polemic. For those baffled by the rise and/or fall of WikiLeaks, this is a great place to start
12 July 2013

Alex Gibney, fresh from demolishing the reputation of the Vatican in Mea Maxima Culpa, turns his attention to Julian Assange. The beleaguered internet activist may seem an easy target. Nevertheless, thanks to the huge impact of the top-secret information he and his tiny team made available to the world via the website WikiLeaks the photogenic Australian is viewed by many as a sacred cow. According to Gibney, he’s an unholy mess.

The documentary focuses on three basic flaws in Assange’s character. His paranoia, his terrifying lack of empathy, and his megalomania which, it’s argued, made him treat colleagues, and lovers, with contempt.

The “lovers” are famous because they went to the police. One of the Swedish women caught up in the sex scandal that caused Assange to take refuge in London’s Ecuadorian embassy — where he remains to this day — goes on camera to explain her actions. Assange’s colleagues are just as vocal. Even Gibney has a story to tell. Assange was willing to appear in this film — on the condition that Gibney pass on information about other interviewees.

Such eyewitness statements are persuasive but should we believe them? In-fighting among political fringe groups is nothing new. Maybe the whole bunch are jealous of Assange’s fame and glamour. Or are part of a sinister, US-government-funded plot to smear his name.

We Steal Secrets is much concerned with conspiracy theories and may well wind up fuelling new ones. Yet the tone is thoughtful and nuanced (the film was co-produced by Jemima Khan, who actually stood bail for him in 2010). A nice moment sees Assange dancing, on his own, to disco music. For once, the self-conscious rebel seems oblivious to the cameras and his arhythmic abandon is totally endearing.

Sadness and madness … Gibney is fascinated by the loneliness of the long-distance hacker and the film touches on many different characters, including Bradley Manning, the idealistic intelligence analyst who allegedly supplied a big chunk of the leaks, and Adrian Lamo, the over-medicated, autistic web-pal who betrayed Manning to the authorities. Yet it always returns to Assange and the latter’s habit of creating one set of rules for himself, one set for everyone else. A habit, it’s implied by the film, he caught from his supposed enemy, the US government.

Gibney’s entertaining polemic seeks to inform the unconverted. For those baffled by the rise and/or fall of WikiLeaks, this is a great place to start.

Watch the We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks trailer:

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