WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS by Alex Gibney
Alex Gibney’s choice to tackle a subject like WikiLeaks.org, the website that in 2010 was responsible for the largest government security breach in US history, was destined to cause a stir – and indeed already has. WikiLeaks has publicly stated its disapproval of the film and a renowned filmmaker like Oliver Stone deemed it ‘a lie upon a lie’. Yet, what may really be at the heart of the controversy is the way in which for We Steal Secrets, the filmmaker gave himself carte blanche and refused to set out any agendas to either praise nor reveal the website’s creator and image Julian Assange as a fraud. The result unfortunately disagrees with a good part of his audience, most of whom consist of people with an interest in political activism, conspiracy theory or those who gathered up through the internet to form worldwide demonstrations such as the Occupy movement. They are the ones who tend to hail Assange as a hero of the free press and who have been following Gibney’s work since he revealed the fraudulent machinations of the capitalist system, dealing with the notorious financial scandal in his 2005 work Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.
Seen from a neutral point of view, Gibney’s approach to his subject is greatly rewarding for two reasons in particular. Firstly, it shows an artistic consistence in his approach to his subjects no matter which social or political ethos they may promote. He confronts WikiLeaks and Assange in the same way in which he took on the Enron scandal, Abu Ghraib and more recently the Catholic Church. Secondly, he shows once again all the traits of an excellent investigative documentarian. In a press statement he revealed that the initial element which led him to deal with WikiLeaks and its creator was the ‘David and Goliath’ element. However, as he carried out his research further and dug deeper into his story, he was exposed to information which led him to change his whole approach. Thus, what initially seems to shape up to be a documentary about how a man successfully stood up to the system inevitably ends up being about how a man’s own personal weaknesses and excesses ended up contradicting his very own beliefs.
On the other hand, it is more than that. The film borrows the title from an honest statement by General Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and the CIA, which gives the film its title. “We steal secrets,” he bluntly admits. “One cannot do that above board and be and be very successful for a very long period of time.” This quote alone already casts a shadow on some of the things that even WikiLeaks stands for, and raises the question of the dangers of a lack of privacy. This is one of the sides of the idealism which the film is most interested in.
We Steal Secrets also stands as a compelling study on the contradictions and imperfections of extremism. Initially, the uproar caused by the launch of the website was looked upon as a liberation and a triumph of righteousness, with Julian Assange standing out as a modern day Robin Hood figure of the press. Eventually its credibility started crumbling. The problem, in the case of Assange, was that after a while he started losing control. This led to a downfall which began after the two charges of sexual assault in Sweden, which took place soon after the launch of the website. While people were quick to point the whole affair out as a set-up, Assange has yet to answer these accusations and is currently under house arrest.
We Steal Secrets also tells the parallel tale of Bradley Manning, the US Army Private First Class who infiltrated the system and leaked the information to Assange, who at the time was hot after revealing an Icelandic banking scandal. Manning is revealed as a deeply troubled soul, particularly distressed by this sexuality. He is the one introduces us to the whistleblowing culture, the practice of revealing secrets of an organisation by one of its members in the hope of stopping it. Whistleblowing is portrayed as an act spurred on by extreme loneliness and, in the case of Manning, it seems to be a genuine cry for help rather than an act of rebellion against the system. His leaked messages to fellow hacker Adrian Lamo, whom he had never met before, reveal his vulnerability and psychological fragility. For example, in an instance when he realises he might get caught, he confesses that what he would be most afraid of is having pictures of him as a boy on the newspapers around the world. In other occasions he openly voices his suicidal thoughts and identity crisis.
These leaked messages are particularly haunting not only because they seem profoundly honest but also because, unlike all the political implications and inclinations of the subject, they create a direct link with the wide majority of the audience who would be familiar with sharing intimate thoughts through the numerous social media or via e-mail. This again takes us back to a scary thought – what if someone were watching our private messages? What if someone were to leak our most personal ones to the whole world?
Ultimately, what the film does lack is an interview with either Assange or Manning, but given the carte blanche approach and the details revealed on this film, it’s easy to see why such interviews would have been impossible. The bad side of it is the fact that ultimately the film lacks a powerful presence to speak out in favour of Assange. While Manning is looked upon sympathetically, Gibney seems to be disappointed and even disenchanted with Assange. However, Gibney’s own conclusions are not pontificating, and We Steal Secrets is not plagued by the coating of self-righteousness which showed in his previous work Mea Maxima Culpa. Gibney, unlike other documentarians such as Michael Moore, does not provoke the viewer, but rather challenges him, and in spite of the often one sided direction in which he takes us, he still allows some room for doubt and lets the viewer agree or disagree with him.
What is certainly true is that We Steal Secrets is extremely well made. It is as thought provoking as it is entertaining. The structure is similar to other works by Gibney; here he exhibits it so comfortably that it almost feels like it has reached a highpoint in the director’s filmography. Furthermore, the whole film unravels at an exciting pace. This structure shares the urgency of the opening newsreel sequence from Citizen Kane and the mystery and suspense mixed with melodrama which recalls the best Hitchcockian works. This film alone shows that documentary may be the new fresh and edgy genre in cinema today, compared to the staleness of most of the fictional counterparts.
While its deep thematic reflections shed an unfavourable light on one of the biggest revolutionary acts of our times, the controversy which surrounds it seems to be unfounded and as premature as the praise which Assange received after 2010. Engaging and challenging throughout, as well as genuinely being as exciting, mysterious and edgy as the best of thrillers, We Share Secrets confirms Gibney as a master of the genre, fearlessly investigating delicate political and social issues as well as delving into human fragilities and internet driven cults. The question is, will there be revelations which will contradict the director’s research and was it too soon to make a documentary on this subject? Only time will tell. But for now, this feels like a perfect time freeze of contemporary history.
- Matt Micucci