The Fifth Estate

This movie can be seen as nothing but an attack on Julian Assange to discredit his character and personality in an attempt to divert the audiences attention and undermine the real facts behind the actual event that occurred. For those that produced this film it is a masterful piece of misinformation and disinformation, by a disgruntled former associate. All Assange's unique idiosyncrasies aside, this film totally avoids the reality of the information that was published and its value to the world.

Brilliantly acted by Benedict Cumberbatch. Disappointing to see false information re L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. It makes me wonder if there is any real way to obtain true information in the media.

Julian Assange has called this movie anti-Wikileaks propaganda. Much of it was sourced from the two books written by his former friend and Wikileaks co-founder Daniel Berg. He and Berg had a major falling out and that's what the crux of this film is really about. I dispute the accusation about it being anti-Wikileaks propaganda, since it even self-consciously examines that very charge at the end of the film. Ultimately, this is a study of ethics and the truth, and the history of Wikileaks is a backstory of its growth and its mission statement in relationship to the ethics, motives, and human frailties of its famous creator. In the film itself, Assange admits, "If you want the truth, you have to go after it yourself". Assange is, without a doubt, like us all, a flawed character, so if his portrayal upsets the perception some may of him then that is their folly. I think on the truth level this film is more than balanced and fair. Thereafter, is it a good film? It does attempt to pack in as much as the data in any terrific Wikileaks dump, which is overly ambitious, but it certainly entertains and maintains the viewer's attention even if it does opt for technical devices and visual similes that are a bit naff. Benedict Cumberbatch exalts in the role and inhabits it intuitively; bearing in mind he and Assange were in fact friends who consulted each other over this film, which Assange begged him not to involve himself in. The supporting cast are terrific but it's curious too how all that tech wizardry portrayed here and the cutting edge it depicts is now itself history. In terms of truth and the media though, it appears that Wikileaks was a bright flash before a return to more-of-the same. But that's another ethical question the viewer finds they will ask, just how far from being Big Brother was the concept of Wikileaks itself?