We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

May. 24,2013      R
Rating:
6.9
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Julian Assange. Bradley Manning. Collateral murder. Cablegate. WikiLeaks. These people and terms have exploded into public consciousness by fundamentally changing the way democratic societies deal with privacy, secrecy, and the right to information, perhaps for generations to come. We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is an extensive examination of all things related to WikiLeaks and the larger global debate over access to information.

Julian Assange as  Self - Founder, WikiLeaks (archive footage)
Chelsea Manning as  Self - WikiLeaks Source (archive footage)
Alex Gibney as  Narrator (voice)

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Reviews

Tedfoldol
2013/05/24

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

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AshUnow
2013/05/25

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Fleur
2013/05/26

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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Dana
2013/05/27

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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brchthethird
2013/05/28

This was a very interesting, thorough and balanced look at a very controversial figure in modern times: Julian Assange. I appreciated that the film did not present a romanticized version of his story, instead taking the good with the bad. The documentary seems to be culled from hundreds of hours of interview footage, much of it featuring Assange himself and for the most part this is riveting to watch. The main centerpiece of the film is the series of leaks originating from Chelsea Manning, and it is here that I felt the film was the weakest. This is mostly because Manning was unavailable to be interviewed, and the only information given from her perspective was from chat logs between herself and Adrian Lamo. I have to admit, watching the text appear on screen instead of hearing a human voice kind of took me out of those parts of the film. However, it did provide me with some information I had previously been unaware of, and made me rethink some rather harsh judgments I made after Manning's trial was concluded. Still, I feel what she did was wrong in the sense that it was reckless, wholesale leaking, and also that proper channels were not used to bring some of the more pertinent information to light. They also spend a good portion of the film talking about Assange's sex crime allegations in Sweden. Again, they do present it in a fairly balanced and objective way, which I applaud the filmmakers for doing. Overall, this was an engaging, thought-provoking and informative documentary which I recommend wholeheartedly.

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hjart6
2013/05/29

The object of a good documentary film-maker should be to change your perception of something. This has been instrumental in many of the most celebrated documentaries ever made from Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line to Michael Moore's classic Roger & Me. We Steal Secrets is no different. Alex Gibney sets out to make one of the most ambitious documentaries made in a long time with such a broad spectrum of players that you might think it would be too much. But with Bradley Manning in solitary confinement and Julian Assange's 1-million demand, you'd be wrong. Still without these two key players appearing to interview in this film, recreations and stock footage provide more than enough background to form a complete and fascinating picture of the story.The documentary provides us with a number of interesting angles. A central point being how personality deeply affects ones actions in the face of national security. With fascinating characters such as Lamo, Manning and of course Assange. Gibney cleverly suggests Assange might be more devious than originally thought as Assange suggests political motives where there are none in order to take away from his personal guilt. Using the sex-scandal to promote the idea of a witch-hunt which might not be rooted in reality after all.The documentary regardless of your stance should prove to be fascinating and illuminating as it sheds light on the personalities and inner workings of the Wikileaks organization, the biggest whistleblowing organization of the 21st century. What Alex Gibney sets out to do with this film he not only succeeds but he has made one of the most entertaining and exciting documentaries in a long time.Julian Assange and other have tried to to discredit the documentary as fabricating facts. However Julian Assange bashed the film before seeing it based on the title. For an interesting read you can check out the annotated script from both Wikileaks and the filmmakers.

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seanrkearney
2013/05/30

If this film tells us anything its that the mainstream media like their corporate paymasters are very much in bed with the governmental organizations who Julian Assange and others looks to expose. From its title its clear that this is film offers little in the way of objective journalism and instead tows the mainstream media line that Assange is not a whistle blower but in fact an irresponsible thief. There is some interesting facts included in the documentary but its inability to remain objective for me at least undermined its credibility and its value as a serious work. Of course without Assange and people like Bradley Manning the worst excesses of government and corporate society would never come to light. A message this film conspicuously overlooks.

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John Raymond Peterson
2013/05/31

IMDb's plot outline is brief when it says 'A documentary that details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history', but it fails to mention that the movie covers many more security breaches besides U.S. ones; it's just that all those other revelations pale in comparison.As documentaries go, this work falls short of the mark by a country mile as there are no interviews of the key people, other than rehashed stuff seen before, here and there. That being said, for those who only have a superficial knowledge of Wikileaks and its founder, you will learn a great deal you ought to know. I didn't think the movie was a hatchet job on Julian Assange, but it certainly doesn't glamorize him. It touched on several very influential achievements of WikiLeaks, without really getting to the meat of any of them. I suppose if you're interested in some of those topics you'll be tempted to dig on your own, on Wikileaks website (amazingly still up on the web). I recommend you do; it's as enlightening as any other good read, very.The 'Cablegate' scandal, which effects are still being felt today, the match that lit the flames of the Arab Spring and has been the bane of Obama's presidency almost from the start is talked about in this documentary, though not nearly as extensively as I felt it should, will blow your mind. You might even understand why so many leaders and countries despise the U.S, if you don't already. The cocoon of protection from secrets large corporations have hidden their shameful deeds has been shattered thanks to WikiLeaks; the veil of righteousness of world leaders has been ripped off their indignant looking faces to reveal the real world. But this movie did not come close to making that point unfortunately, unless you read between the lines.Assange's own credibility and motivation are covered and that admittedly will not reflect well on the man, but it should not deter anyone from consulting the website. I enjoyed watching this movie, but I have to admit it's not for the well informed; I recommend it to everyone else.

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