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In 2010, David Fincher’s Facebook movie, The Social Network, took award season by storm, thanks to its snappy script, its hot young cast, and its timely tale. Now Dreamgirls and Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon is trying to do the same with The Fifth Estate, his own tale of digital revolution.
The Fifth Estate stars the ever-present Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange, the controversial founder of Internet watchdog site WikiLeaks. The story begins in 2007, as the site is just beginning to garner attention for its ability to offer willing whistleblowers complete anonymity. Assange teams up with German hacker Daniel Berg (Daniel Brühl), and while Assange acts as the face—and the voice—of WikiLeaks, Daniel works behind the scenes, verifying sources and strengthening the site’s security. But as the leaks get bigger and the stakes get higher, Daniel begins to question some of Julian’s decisions.
It’s hard not to compare The Fifth Estate to The Social Network. After all, both films tell the arguably true story of a controversial Internet maverick who created a website that changed the world. But just as WikiLeaks and Facebook are two very different beasts, so are the two films. Facebook is a social site where people post random thoughts and personal pictures—and The Social Network was more mainstream entertainment: clever and quirky with a cool cast. WikiLeaks, however, isn’t Facebook. It’s a serious organization, and its actions have brought about some pretty serious outcomes. So it makes sense that The Fifth Estate isn’t hip and quick-witted. And if you’re looking for Social Network-style dialogue, you’ll be sorely disappointed—because that’s just not the film’s style.
Of course, that’s not to say that the film is dry or dull—because its focus is on one fascinating character. Though Assange has been quite vocal about renouncing the film as slanderous and vindictive, it doesn’t really make him out to be the dangerous lunatic that you might expect. Assange is a man with a mission: to offer a safe environment for exposing lies and injustice. Like any truly passionate individual, his actions may be seen as excessive. But, for the most part, the film allows audiences to make their own decisions—and it isn’t until the final moments that it chooses to take an unnecessary jab or two at its subject.
So is Julian Assange a passionate activist or a power-hungry madman? In a way, he’s a little of both. The film’s take on Assange is well-written and beautifully acted—his lines often so lyrical, his personality so charming and magnetic that you’ll soon find yourself under his spell. Cumberbatch doesn’t just play Assange; it feels as though he becomes the character—and that makes it easy for audiences to become engrossed in the story.
The Fifth Estate may not be this year’s The Social Network. It isn’t as clever or as hip or as brilliantly written. But the complex personalities and the thought-provoking story still make it worth a trip to the theater.
Blu-ray Review:
Whenever I see a film that’s based on a true story, it leaves me wanting to know more about the people and events that shaped the film. Sometimes, the special features included on the film’s Blu-ray release help to fill in the gaps. But, in the case of The Fifth Estate, the film’s special features stick to the movie itself—not the story behind it.
Extras on the Blu-ray release include The Submission Platform: Visual Effects, which offers a look at the thought process and set design that went into creating Assange’s imaginary office set (a part of the film that wasn’t exactly one of its high points). A more interesting feature, then, is In-Camera: Graphics, which focuses on the way in which director Bill Condon and his crew turned the characters’ digital communication into something visual. And, finally, Scoring Secrets takes a look at composer Carter Burwell’s score, as well as the research and collaboration that went into it.
Though the extras don’t really cover the most interesting aspects of the film—the characters and their story—if you’re interested in the more technical aspects of the film, the Blu-ray’s special features menu offers a few more insights. If you choose to give the extras a few minutes of your time, I recommend starting with In-Camera.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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