The online newspaper of Canyon High School

The Eagle's Tale

The online newspaper of Canyon High School

The Eagle's Tale

The online newspaper of Canyon High School

The Eagle's Tale

Wikileaks counters ‘Fifth Estate’ claims

Dreamwork’s new film, “The Fifth Estate,” scheduled for release Oct. 18, is promoted as a movie based on real events following the Wikileaks scandal, which exposed some government war secrets in 2010.

However, Wikileaks posted a “mature” manuscript from late production on their site Sept. 21, and released a response that went through every fault in the movie, from major events down to the bleached hair of Benedict Cumberbatch.

According to the Wikileaks website, most of the events depicted never happened or the people shown were not involved. The movie has real names, real places and appears to be covering real events, but according to Wikileaks, it is a dramatic work and shapes facts to fit its narrative goals.

Producers of the film state that some of Wikileaks’ points are false or not crucial to the story. Wikileaks states that even the portrayal of supporting character Daniel in the film is fictitious.

The site states that ‘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 as portrayed in the film is almost entirely fictitious.

The script also portrays that Wikileaks negatively affected many people’s lives because of its events.

According to its site, WikiLeaks implemented rigorous harm-minimization procedures in order to prevent harm. WikiLeaks held back 15,000 Afghan field reports for harm minimization, but the film argues that there was no harm minimization in place.

With the clashing claims of both the producers and Wikileaks, viewers may be left to wonder what is real and what is not.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Josh Collins, Associate Editor
This one time, in Australia… Hello everyone! My name is Josh Collins, and I am an associate editor. I am a senior at Canyon High and am involved with several clubs and organizations. I am the president of Key Club, the president of National Honors Society, and am involved heavily with the American Sign Language Honor Society. I am also in the PRO program as well as the CHS End It movement. This summer I took a trip to Australia to attend a week long program at the University of Melbourne for the Young Leaders Winter Program. It was the best trip of my life, it opened my eyes to many cultural differences, and I loved every second. I also worked this summer at Ceta Canyon Methodist Church and Retreat Center. It was my second year working there and was an amazing experience. If I’m not at home napping, I am probably at Sonic or the movies. I love sushi, music, the ocean and writing! I especially love writing entertainment review and features. For college, my dream is to return to the University of Melbourne.

Comments (0)

All The Eagle's Tale Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *