Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012)

A look at the early career of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.

Director:

Robert Connolly

Writers:

Suelette Dreyfus (book), Robert Connolly (adaptation)

Stars:

Rachel Griffiths, Anthony LaPaglia, Alex Williams

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachel Griffiths	...	Christine Assange
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Detective Ken Roberts
Alex Williams	...	Julian Assange
Laura Wheelwright	...	Electra
Callan McAuliffe	...	Prime Suspect
Jordan Raskopoulos	...	Trax
Benedict Samuel	...	Jonah
Ben Crundwell	...	Adam
Doug Bowles	...	Fred
Daniel Frederiksen	...	Wayne
Ben Keller	...	Young Julian Assange
Simon Maiden	...	Journalist
Ian Bliss	...	Vince
Dean Cartmel	...	Technician
Nick Mitchell	...	Matthew Stewart

Storyline

Julian Assange is one of the most significant figures of the twenty first century. But before he was famous, before WikiLeaks, before the internet even existed, he was a teenage computer hacker in Melbourne. This is his story. In 1989, known as 'Mendax', Assange and two friends formed a group called the 'International Subversives'. Using early home computers and defining themselves as 'white hat hackers' - those who look but don't steal - they broke into some of the world's most powerful and secretive organisations. They were young, brilliant, and in the eyes of the US Government, a major threat to national security. At the urging of the FBI, the Australian Federal Police set up a special taskforce to catch them. But at a time when most Australian police had never seen a computer, let alone used one, they had to figure out just where to begin. Police ingenuity and old-fashioned detective work are pitted against nimble, highly skilled young men in this new crime frontier. What follows,...

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Plot Keywords:

computer | hacker | internet | australian federal police | fax machine | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2012 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Ellenállók: A Julian Assange sztori

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Matchbox Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A drama quasi-biopic movie about a later part of Julian Assange's life is The Fifth Estate (2013); covering Wikileaks, the events of the early 2010s, twenty years later.

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Goofs

At the start of the movie, a Telstra phone box is seen. The Telstra branding was not introduced until 1995 so this would have been a Telecom phone box at the time the movie is set. Later scenes in the movie correctly have Telecom phone boxes.

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Connections

References Lo straniero (1967)

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Soundtracks

At First Sight
Written by Dom Mariani
Performed by The Stems
Courtesy of Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd

User Reviews

Enlightening

This film left me with the reminder of how little Australians know about the largeness of the characters in our countries history. Loved the simple outline of Assange's formative years, which I had little knowledge of. Was very enjoyable seeing IT in the time frame in which his international involvement started. The reality of period IT equipment, home pieces, telephone exchange, cheap city student housing, police structure was entertaining as well as a reminder of we're this fitted in my background. Was also enjoyable fitting Assange history into the news events of the day that I recalled, The Family. The 'one liner' written across screen at end, about custody battle, single parent child raising, leaves me hanging for the rest of the Bio. Very enjoyable documentary, would recommend to all, for both entertainment in terms of Australian 'period' piece & understanding were Assange comes from.