You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

--John 8:32

In director Bill Condon's The Fifth Estate (2013), the enigmatic figure of Julian Assange, played with great plausibility by Benedict Cumberbatch, is depicted as almost Messianic in his dedication to unearthing and revealing the truths he considers the world needs to hear--truths political, corporate, ethical. A 128-minute blend of fast-paced action and ponderous poring over computers, the film builds on these two strands of Assange's story, which is itself now a narrative to be discovered and mined. First, the film asks to what extent Assange is a genuine warrior for truth and social justice, and to what extent he represents a narcissistic cult of personality--an awkward individual dabbling in dangerous and inappropriate matters in order to be prominent and acclaimed. Second, it asks us to consider the nature of 'truth' itself and our relation to it, specifically within an ever-evolving information age. If information can be found, whatever the means of the finding, does it necessarily follow that it should be? Is there, in the context of a democratic state, any information that should remain hidden from public view? Who is in a position to decide what information is publicly available and what is not, and what does this say about the institutions of power that define the social? Is exposing such 'secrets' noble and courageous truth-telling, as Assange asserts, or a betrayal of the very states and institutions we ought to be supporting, as no doubt the US would claim? And, even if the answers to these questions lie somewhere in between, a crucial uncertainty remains: given that technology now provides us with such potential to access knowledge, what are the structures--legal, military, ethical--that might regulate such access, and to what extent do and should they operate?

As we go to press, the real-life Julian Assange is still within the no doubt claustrophobic confines of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, caught in diplomatic and legal limbo as he resists the UK government's efforts to extradite him to Sweden on charges of sexual misconduct. (1) (Interestingly, apart from a final credit, The Fifth Estate does not deal with events subsequent to the dramatic release of US documents in 2010, perhaps thereby avoiding too personal a focus on Assange himself. Nevertheless, these circumstances inevitably hang in the air, influencing how we are thinking about Assange and how the film approaches the character.) Concern that facing these charges in Sweden will leave him vulnerable to extradition to the US--and the kind of excessive and punitive treatment already meted out to his military informant, Bradley Manning (2)--means that Assange has elected to remain within the sanctuary of the embassy. However, from this somewhat surreal context, Assange has been free to continue to comment and engage with the virtual world--perhaps always a mode of preference. Not only has he campaigned (unsuccessfully) for a seat in the Australian Senate, but he has also expressed his dismay about the making of The...