The Fifth Estate

 

The Fifth Estate 2013

• Director: Bill Condon
• Seen by this director: Beauty and the Beast, The Twilight Saga 1, Dreamgirls
• Based on the book: Daniel Domscheit-Berg
• Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Carice van Houten, Alicia Vikander, Peter Capaldi, David Thewliss, Dan Stevens, Jamie Blackley
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Benedict Cumberbatch – 1917, Sherlock, Richard III, Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game, 12 Years a Slave, The Hobbit, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Small Island, Creation, Atonement, Amazing Grace, Starter for 10To Kill a King
• Daniel Brühl – The Cloverfield Paradox, Alone in Berlin, Colonoa, Woman in Gold, Inglourious Basterds, Ladies in Lavender, Good-bye Lenin
• Carice van Houten – Game of Thrones, Repomen, From Time to Time, Valkyria
• Alicia Vikander – Tomb Raider, Euphoria, Ex Machina, Testament of Youth
• Peter Capaldi – The Personal Life of David Copperfield, Christopher Robin, Doctor Who, Paddington 1&2, World War Z, In the Loop, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Neverwhere, Local Hero
• David Thewliss – Wonder Woman, Legend, Macbeth, The Theory of Everything, Harry Potter, Veronica Decides to Die, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Omen, Kingdom of Heaven, Dinotopia, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith, Naked, Life Is Sweet
• Dan Stevens – Beauty and the Beast, Summer in February, Downton Abbey, The Turn of the Screw
• Jamie Blackley  - Misfits
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 27 August 2023      

       The story of Julian Assange (Cumberbatch) and Wikileaks, based on the book by his colleague Daniel (Brühl), thus rather slanted in favour of Daniel.

       For being a film about one of the most influential, brilliant and controversial individuals of our time, with a stellar cast, the first hour or so is surprisingly boring and confusing.

       There are dramatic and emotional scenes and the story behind Wikileaks is fascinating. Cumberbatch is convincing in the role he’s been given to play but for a film about revealing the truth, the truth of Assange and Wikileaks is certainly not revealed in the mishmash. 

3 * of 5