The Fifth Estate

Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate" based on Daniel Berg's tell-all book about his time with Julian Assange and the Wikileaks website paints an intriguing portrait of obsession and megalomania gone unchecked.

Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the ivory-locked Assange as a single-minded and often paranoid individual on a crusade that largely blinds him to the way he treats those around him. In a way, Cumberbatch is merely reprising and enhancing his role on Sherlock, with Daniel Brhl portraying the Watson-esque Berg who serves to keep Assange as grounded as possible.

Told largely from Berg's perspective, the film begins with the unveiling of the documents and videos leaked by Private Bradley Manning, then delves back to the beginning of Wikileaks, when Berg was kept largely in the dark about the organization's breadth and depth (or lack of either), as he introduced Assange at technology conventions for a sparsely attended presentation. This scene provides a stark contrast later on, when Assange is in another auditorium, addressing a packed house of attendees enchanted by his prestige.

Where the film suffers is pretty much where all films about computers and the Internet suffer: it's hard to communicate to the viewership exactly what's happening with code and firewalls and networks. Therefore, special effects deliver the metaphorical view of the ideal, represented here as a large office of empty desks to signify the many volunteers Berg initially believed responsible for Wikileaks -- none of whom existed and all of whom were merely Assange using different IDs. While not exactly "The Matrix," it does add a certain layer of the fantastic to a story that would otherwise only appeal to news junkies and the Internet savvy.

Effects aside, the story portrays Assange as driven, socially awkward, and zealous, giving oblique reasons as to what truly motivates his crusade (although there are implications of Assange having been raised in a cult, an aspect of the film with the family currently denies). Assange is shown to have bouts of rage, depression, and elation, switching from one to the other with dramatic swiftness, while Berg is shown to be his social anchor, at first showing a puppy-like adulation for its master that grows into having to be the one having to hold the leash, leading up to the film's climax as Berg is blacklisted by Assange and turns to sabotage of the system. Ultimately, "The Fifth Estate" serves as a prime example of irony, as the site, which professed to exist for the protection of whistleblowers, itself has the whistle blown on it by Berg.

Perhaps more interesting than watching the unfolding dynamics between Assange and Berg are the political wranglings going on in the scenes with Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci (as the portray Washington insiders Sarah Shaw and James Boswell). Linney's character is the Cassandra of the drama, as she grasps the implications of a site like Wikileaks almost immediately, but isn't regarded until after the Manning documents have been released. The "West Wing" feel of these scenes are more likely to resonate with audiences than are the scenes of keyboard tapping and monitor-reflected grins as we read Assange's chat logs.

Bonus features on this two-disc release include "The Submission Platform: Visual Effects" and a collection of trailers and television spots. The Blu-ray disc of the set also includes features on the film's musical scoring and a documentary on the in-camera graphics that is fairly intriguing.

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The Fifth Estate