FIFTH ESTATE

SYNOPSIS – The story of how Wikileaks came to prominence as an online superpower. You would need to have been living under a rock for the past couple of years to have not heard of Wikileaks. The controversial website has made it its mission to provide a platform for whistle-blowers in any industry and on any topic, and the man at the centre of all that controversy is Julian Assange. Obviously with such a highly divisive topic as this coming up with a cohesive film script could be rather problematic. Indeed Assange himself has already denounced the film as lies and propaganda and sent star Benedict Cumberbatch an email asking him not to take part. The filmmakers use Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl), the site’s former spokesperson, as our eyes and ears into the man and the movement. Right from the start we encounter the problem that has plagued films such as this through the ages - how to make the sight of people typing on keyboards exciting. The solution offered here is the visual metaphor of a large endless office - this isn’t entirely ineffective (though wasn’t this what everyone laughed at hackers for?) The imagery does, however, being used repeatedly throughout the film, grow rather tiresome and boring. The film tends to sag towards the middle after we get a montage of Wikileak’s greatest hits and there seems little to do but wait for the big one (the infamous leak of Afgahnistan war logs). To fill the middle gap we get Domscheit-Berg’s relationship troubles and debates on the ethics of the site that feel rather like filler. Now it has to be said that once we reach the endgame things pick up and interest levels rise again. The story of the Manning (the name of the Private who leaked the documents) leak could quite easily have taken most the film and, had this been the case, the film might have had better closure. Part of my dissatisfaction with the ending might stem from the director’s efforts to put an end to a story that is still very much on-going. Credit for saving the film from its plodding plot must go to its actor Bendidict Cumberbatch. Forced to play a complex contradictory character, Cumberbatch manages to capture both the awe Assange can instil whilst exactly showing his erratic darker side that drives a wedge between him and his only real friend. Bruhl, I feel, also deserves credit for his performance, his part may be that of observer, a guest in Julian’s mad world, but he breathes life into a character that otherwise might seem a little flat or dull. FINAL VERDICT 6/10 –Overall the film entertains but feels overawed by its subject matter. Perhaps when more time has passed a stronger attempt could be made.