We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks (2013)

Directed by: Alex Gibney
Country: USA

Review: Alex Gibney has a huge experience as documentarian and “We Steal Secrets”, despite not completely elucidatory, gives a good impression on what was the most scandalous case of secret information leak involving the US Government, perpetrated by a non-profit organization called WikiLeaks. The film not only covers the happenings related to this case, but also makes a bit of character studies regarding the individuals involved with this international organization. The introduction of WikiLeaks’s founder, Julian Assange, was made through the association with the worm attack made to NASA computers’ system in 1989, when the spacecraft Galileo was launched. Assange is obviously the central figure here, and the essential question is putted in these terms: is he a hero, for having revealed publicly so many corruption cases and revolting facts involving the American wars in the Middle East? Or is he a villain, for having compromised the world security, as well as having seized the information in an unauthorized and inappropriate manner? Beyond this hard-to-answered question, there are a lot more, especially regarding the posterior accusations of sexual assault made against Assange, and the curious aspects of his personality. Among several shocking revelations, we still have time to get to know a few curious characters, including the US Army soldier Bradley Manning, and the whistleblower and famous hacker, Adrian Lamo. “We Steal Secrets” is worthily informative but not conclusive.