Risk

(spoiler free)

Other than Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer’ I’m pretty unfamiliar with documentaries. ‘Risk’ is the latest film by documentarian Laura Poitras. This film focuses on Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Similarly this is a subject that I’m not well versed in at all. My lack of prior knowledge had me slightly worried that the film might go over my head.  Nonetheless I hoped that Poitras would make this accessible to all types of viewers and that I would gain something positive from my experience.

Almost immediately my fears of failing to grasp the film were realised. The film starts with little exposition and begins throwing names, events & organisations all over the place. As a result I found it very difficult to keep up with the film. As well as this I failed to see the overall narrative or meaning to the film. I wasn’t quite sure what Poitras was trying to say with her work here. Therefore as I watched the scenes unfold they felt very disconnected, I just wasn’t quite sure what the point of it all was. This all caused a lack of engagement on my part which meant I found the whole thing rather boring. I’m sure a viewer with more background knowledge would be able to follow things more clearly and possibly enjoy it more. However, viewers coming to this documentary with no knowledge or interest in the subject will most definitely find it challenging to engage with it. Nonetheless, I do feel more knowledgeable about the subject now, however I still don’t have a clear grasp on all the elements covered. 

The actual content of the film didn’t help me to become intrigued either though. I found the main focus, Julian Assange to be most unlikable. I know this in itself cannot be a flaw, this is an insight into a real life individual and not a character. Although because Assange was the focus and he often spends time talking to Poitras in interview settings I found it even harder to engage because his pretentious nature was frustrating to watch and listen to. The frustration didn’t stop with Assange though as the documentary felt like nothing more than a barrage of clips of people constantly talking over each other. I know this is to be expected with real footage of interviews & conferences etc but it wasn’t broken up enough with calmer more thought through conversations. Even in these moments with just Poitras & Assange I found things to be irritated by.  Small details like Poitras moving her chair whilst listening to Assange could have been avoided, I thought more attention to detail might have been taken. Poitras also adds a narration to the film every so often, this was a little jarring for me especially because we’re never really introduced to Poitras. Consequently this voice over always came across as self-centered and made the film feel disingenuous.

So if you hadn’t worked it out already my first cinematic experience of a documentary wasn’t an overly positive one. I have no doubt that my absence of interest or knowledge about the subject played a role in this. However, I do think that documentaries should be accessible to all viewers and I don’t think ‘Risk’ fully is. Futhermore, I wasn’t a fan of the construction of this film with many elements adding to my frustrated lack of engagement. I’d reccomend this film to those who have a pre-established interest in the subject but otherwise I can’t see audiences enjoying this.

Rating – 2/10

Question: What are is your favourite documentary film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

---

Thanks for reading this review and please let me know what you thought about the movie! Leave a comment below or drop me a tweet over at @HCMovieReviews.

---