WHO’S IN IT?
Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Daniel Brühl (Rush), Laura Linney (Kinsey), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones), David Thewlis (The Boy In The Striped Pajamas), Peter Capaldi (In The Loop), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina)
WHOS’ BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters), director; Josh Singer (The West Wing), writer; Bard Dorros (Fun Size), Steve Golin (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Michael Sugar (Rendition), producers; Carter Burwell (Fargo), composer; Tobias A. Schliessler (Hancock), cinematographer; Virginia Katz (Dreamgirls), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Julian Assange (Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Brühl) team up to create a platform that allows people to leak classified information to the public through Assange’s website WikiLeaks, thereby exposing government secrets and corporate corruption to the world. However, when they get their hands on some of the biggest confidential information in US history, they battle one another as they discover the cost of keeping secrets and exposing them…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Just as The Social Network and Zero Dark Thirty benefited from being based on fairly recent events, The Fifth Estate takes a still-hot topic – that of the WikiLeaks website and its controversial owner Julian Assange – and turns it into the next big on-screen political thriller. But the project has already been the target of one particular critic: Assange himself, who is currently seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
The Australian activist has blasted the filmmakers for creating a movie about his exploits, branding it as “a mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks” and scolding West Wing writer Josh Singer’s script for being “a lie built on a lie.” He had even tried to persuade Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrays him in the movie, not to take on the role before production began. Cumberbatch, however, decided that Singer’s script “wasn’t as negative a spin as he feared it would be” and that he would “try to do it with the utmost integrity, to portray something of the three-dimensionality of the situation as well as him.” So whether The Fifth Estate does turn out to be some pro-government slap in the face against Assange and WikiLeaks, know that at least they went in with some knowledge and respect for the real events and people.
Cumberbatch, meanwhile, has seen his star rise exponentially since starring in the acclaimed TV series Sherlock and other big films like War Horse and, most recently, Star Trek Into Darkness so he should be the big draw here. Daniel Brühl, fresh from his acclaimed turn in Rush, also shows up as Assange’s right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg and should give just as strong a performance as Cumberbatch. Look out also for appearances by a starry ensemble cast including Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie, and the newly-announced owner of the TARDIS Peter Capaldi. Let’s just hope his Doctor doesn’t have any more major secrets, otherwise Assange will leak them to the Daleks or something.
With strong direction from Bill “I Survived Directing Two Twilight Movies Back-To-Back And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” Condon, The Fifth Estate should be a fascinating insight into the most dangerous website on the planet and the ego of the man who ran it. Even if the man himself doesn’t agree with how he and his work is being portrayed on-screen, at least something of his many achievements will have some sort of lasting legacy thanks to this film. It may be slightly biased, but how else could you tell this story?
