The trailer for the upcoming “The Fifth Estate” film about Wikileaks and its controversial founder, Julian Assange, was released today and was the subject of quite a bit of buzz.
On the heels of May’s theatrical release of the documentary “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks,” Wikileaks isn’t very happy about either film.
The highly anticipated “The Fifth Estate” stars Benedict Cumberbatch (from BBC America’s excellent series “Sherlock” and other geek favorites) as Assange. I can’t personally offer much about the film itself since it won’t be out until October and I haven’t seen previews. Softpedia gives a brief overview:
The film presents a dramatized version of the rise and fall of WikiLeaks, starting with how Assange teamed up with Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) to offer a platform for whistleblowers to leak classified information, and ending with their fall from grace.
According to the synopsis, “The Fifth Estate” “reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization.”
Wikileaks has already started lashing out.
"The Fifth Estate" trailer has just been released. Don't be fooled. It implies we gave Iran nukes and killed 2,000 http://t.co/9xs1f0T8il
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 17, 2013
Our comments are based on the script used during filming, not, as the dir Bill Condon falsely states an old script (though we have them too)
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 17, 2013
This isn’t unlike what happened just after “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks” was released.
Before “The Fifth Estate” Came “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks”
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks” is a film that I did see, and while I am not usually a fan of director Alex Gibney’s politics, I enjoyed that film. It concerned me at first because it starts out depicting Assange in almost rock star fashion, making little mention of some of Assange’s irresponsible and sometimes dangerous decisions. But that all changes in the second half of the film.
Mother Jones, by no means anything near a right leaning website, makes note of the change in the film’s pace and of the realities that ultimately plagued Assange (and still do today).
Julian Assange already hates this movie. That six-word review may be all that his die-hard supporters need to know about We Steal Secrets, Alex Gibney’s exhaustive and exhausting new documentary on the rise and fall of WikiLeaks. Apparently without having seeing the film, which hits theaters tomorrow and will be available on demand on June 7, Assange has condemned it as a hatchet job, starting with its name. “An unethical and biased title in the context of pending criminal trials,” WikiLeaks tweeted in January when the movie screened at Sundance. “It is the prosecution’s claim and it is false.”
[…]
But in its second hour, We Steal Secrets sinks a knife into its subject as a series of disillusioned allies steps up to testify against him. Former WikiLeaks staffer James Ball diagnoses Assange with a case of “noble cause corruption”—unable to recognize when he does things that he would deplore in others. Manne qualifies his earlier praise, asserting that Assange is “a natural fabulist and storyteller and lives intensely in his imagination.” Nick Davies, a Guardian reporter who worked closely with Assange, recalls his callous attitude toward sources named in American military documents whose lives might be jeopardized if their identities were not redacted: “I raised this with Julian and he said, ‘If an Afghan civilian helps coalition forces, he deserves to die.’ He went on to say that they have the status of a collaborator or an informant.”
Ultimately, some of those informant names did get published, prompting media partners of Wikileaks to condemn the organization’s decision.
As the Mother Jones article mentions, “We Steal Secrets” also runs a parallel sub-script about Bradley Manning, the Army private who stands accused of leaking classified material to Wikileaks. While it seems the director did try to present the Manning backstory in a more neutral light than I’d actually expected, I still think it presents him in too favorable a light, but that’s just my own opinion. I suppose that depends on where you stand about whether you think what Manning did was right or wrong and to what extent.
In general though, “We Steal Secrets” challenges the viewer to separate the concept of the Wikileaks platform from the personality that controls it, and ultimately to recognize that there can be dangers when personalities (and the opinions they may hold) take over.
Assange responded to “We Steal Secrets” by publishing his own annotated transcript, making point by point rebuttals to the film’s script. Wikileaks followed with frequent tweets attacking the film, as did supporters of Assange.
#WikiLeaks replies to "We Steal Secrets" http://t.co/WoxKkuRH53 & http://t.co/kFfogLmF3Y & http://t.co/j8atjzQh4F & http://t.co/ekaHT6DVKZ
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 26, 2013
Film Commissioned by US Comcast-Owned Studio Tries to Smear, Discredit #Assange, Manning http://t.co/Rn21NbklCF more: http://t.co/LM30Ho5D8d
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 3, 2013
$2M anti-#WikiLeaks doc "We Steal Secrets" flops at box office http://t.co/vOlQUPPQRv annotated transcript: http://t.co/LM30Ho5D8d
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 18, 2013
Gibney and earlier opportunists think that 'the market' is establishment op-ed columnists. They're wrong. Internet means market=population.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 9, 2013
With the recent news developments about the NSA scandal and former contractor Edward Snowden, Wikileaks and Assange have re-entered the spotlight to some extent. While Assange supporters have been hopeful for his resurgence in all this, others, like Edward Snowden’s father, haven’t been as happy to see that association.
For most of the general public, it remains to be seen how “The Fifth Estate” will compare to “We Steal Secrets” in style, in content, and in Assange’s portrayal. But regardless of where you stand on Wikileaks or Assange, one thing is for certain – with all the anticipation about the upcoming “The Fifth Estate” film, it will be very interesting to see how all sides in this debate respond. Most especially, Wikileaks and Assange.
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Comments
May we live in interesting times. There are so many levels to this that it is impossible to have a tunnel view.
The icing on the cake is that Julian Assange will be on the Senate ticket for the State of Victoria for the next Federal Elections – recently postponed.
I just love that.
Oh dear. Bet his opponent will say something like “Would you expect him to leak all over Sovereign Hill and find a little more gold or just do it for the thrill of turning dirt into mud?”
Events can take over a film. I go to REDDIT. There, Assange gets lots of sympathy. As does Ed Snowden. (It was at REDDIT I saw the suggestion that IF the Nobel committee were to honor Snowden with the Nobel Prize; it would show how far the Nobel committee has come since it evaluated, and gave the prize to obama.)
I like Cummerbund. Oops. Cumberbach. Loved his portrayal of a modern Sherlock Holmes. And, of course, I have no idea what lines the script follows. But from the clip, it looks like makeup got the look just right. (Will it deal with the faked rape charges realistically? Well, who wouldn’t want to go to bed with Cumberbach more than once?)
And, after New Zealand threw itself into this mess by allowing the FBI to arrest (and destroy his property), we have Mr. Dot Com gaining a lot of sympathy. To the FBI’s “null” draw. And, now, we can add NSA. And, how the FBI got Google and other big companies to turn over data … through a secret court. FISA. Set up by John Roberts (who should resign!) And, I’ve seen Google/Facebook called “Gaggle/Fecesbook” up at REDDIT.
So, it seems to me there are people are the left who are all upset. That’s how you get to “mainstream” from here.
Obama? Right now it’s possible he’s pissed off Hispanic voters … who don’t buy into George Zimmerman being Jewish. Or only “white.” Do we see Obama as white? I don’t think so.
Is a president allowed to fail? Sure. Until time catches up with his behind.
And, over at REDDIT they’re running Jimmy Carter’s comments that are going full tilt at obama’s jugular. Jimmy complains at how this administration is destroying the Constitution! Again,this is not Conservative complaints.
Is politics hardball? You bet it is. We just don’t know what all the actors are doing backstage. When they come out in front of the lights, of course, they’re acting. But no one’s grabbed the issue that looks the least bit competent.
And, the politician, ahead, that can fill this bill? Who knows? Maybe an outsider?
with the Fifth Estate bomb like the Lone Ranger? Heck, no. We’ve even reached a point where piracy can be kept at bay, because legitimate sources have priced themselves into the ballpark. And, while I NEVER go to the movies, I think I would go see this one. (Same thing happened with THE KING’S SPEECH. That was one heck of a good movie!)
And, in a good movie, Assange won’t be made out to be the bad guy.
Assange remains safe. So it gives me hope for Zimmerman and his family, too. After JFK, the CIA wants another “bag job?” Heck, the “contractor kid” … who was only 29 … shows ya that a lot of the political heavyweights tend to “outsource.” Have they lost their minds?
REMEMBER THE (MONEY) QUOTE
“THEY ARE AFRAID YOU WILL SEEK OUT INFORMATION BY YOURSELF”
Yes Carol – this stuff is not going away . You might put in Aaron Schwartz in also. So far under greater pressure Assange & Snowden are holding up .
Aaron you really missed out on all the fun .
Message to Geeks – it gets better.
Snowden had the scripts of the Assange movie on his thumb drive. He gave a copy to the Chinese while in Hong Kong.