WikiLeaks Tears Apart DreamWorks' Adaptation 'The Fifth Estate' In 4,000-Word Memo
The memo released breaks the film down according to inaccuracies in the picture.
Here are a few of WikiLeaks' problems with "The Fifth Estate." Spoilers ahead.
1. "'The Fifth Estate' falsely implies that WikiLeaks harmed 2,000 US government informants."
2. "The film is fictional. Most of the events depicted never happened, or the people shown were not involved in them. It has real names, real places, and looks like it is covering real events, but it is still a dramatic and cinematic work, and it invents or shapes the facts to fit its narrative goals ... People should not in any way treat this film as an historical account of WikiLeaks, its activities or its personnel."
3. "'The Fifth Estate' is based on two books, both written by people who had personal and legal disputes with WikiLeaks. These are personally biased sources and are now outdated by three years. They tell only one side of the story."
4. WikiLeaks claims Assange was never in a cult which is insinuated in the film.
5. "The film falsely states that Julian Assange has been charged (with 'rape') and makes a number of other related false imputations."
6. "'The Fifth Estate' presents Julian Assange as a transparency zealot who believes everything should be made public, but this is wrong. Julian Assange believes transparency should be in proportion to power."
7. "The film makes it look like WikiLeaks was finished in 2010. Three years later, WikiLeaks is still here, has been going from strength to strength, and the issues raised in 2010 are more urgent and relevant than ever."
8. WikiLeaks points out two characters depicted in the film - Anke and Daniel - are incorrectly portrayed. The character of Daniel is mostly fictitious.
"Although the film shows several hostile interactions between Julian Assange and Anke Domscheit-Berg, in fact Julian Assange has never met or spoken with Anke."
"'The Fifth Estate' inserts a 'Daniel Domscheit-Berg' into the story for the events of 2010, during which Collateral Murder, the two sets of War Logs and Cablegate were released. The real Domscheit-Berg was not present for any of these. The character of 'Daniel' in the film is almost entirely fictitious."
Read the script here and the entire memo here.
"The Fifth Estate" will have a wide release in theaters October 18.