91. The Trust Fall; Julian Assange; movie review

 

THE TRUST FALL: JULIAN ASSANGE

Cert 15

129 mins

BBFC advice: Contains images of real violence and dead bodies

When did telling the telling the truth become a crime?

And when did investigative journalism lose its importance in the public psyche?

When I was growing up, reporters who uncovered wrongdoing were lauded. Indeed, Woodward and Bernstein became American heroes for their work on Watergate.

Sadly, their equivalents in the 21st century are more likely to be pursued, locked up and tortured.

Anyone who believes I am exaggerating must watch The Trust Fall: Julian Assange -  a shocking and vitally important film.

I am ashamed to admit that I had swallowed the deception that Assange was a crank and likely to be a criminal.

This is because the mainstream media has backed the US government-led campaign to have him discredited.

Kym Staton's film is a mind-changer, laying out the facts and showing that Assange has been incarcerated for more than a decade because the authorities couldn't handle the truth.

It carefully picks through the history of Assange and Wikileaks, where he posted thousands of pages of leaked intelligence information.

Among them was a video of the shooting dead of innocent people in Iraq by the laughing crew of an American army helicopter.

After publication, successive US governments have demanded his extradition because they claim he has endangered the life of service personnel by exposing state secrets.

The Trust Fall shows that the truth was Assange's motivation and preventing wars was his endgame.

However, he knew that he would be chased to the ends of the earth by those who feared that he might loosen their grip on power.

And so it has proved. Assange was trapped in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before being arrested and incarcerated in Belmarsh Prison.

Meanwhile, he has undergone psychological torture that one would not have thought possible in the UK.

Contributors to the Trust Fall include eminent voices from journalism, politics and his immediate circle.

These include John Pilger, one of the most acclaimed journalists of his era, and Vietnam whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Governments have claimed that Assange endangered service personnel through his publications but the film reveals why that isn't the case.

It also reflects what many of us fear - that the truth no longer matters to politicians who are determined to maintain power whatever the means.

Shockingly, it shows how millions of civilians have become dehumanised in the world's many wars, especially by the United States, the supposed leader of the free world.

America claims it is the planet's protector and defender of free speech.

This movie proves the opposite and demands action if we believe in democracy.

I was stirred and shocked.

Reasons to watch: Vitally important documentary 

Reasons to avoid: Doesn't have a response

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Did you know?  If Julian Assange loses his latest appeal, the only remaining block to his extradition would lie with the European Court of Human Rights. It has already dismissed two applications from him in 2015 and 2022.

The final word. Kym Staton: "The deeper I delved into these issues, and the more interviews that I conducted, the clearer my sense of injustice and my disgust with those responsible became."

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