How do the characters portrayed in the film The Insider compare to the real person being represented?
With any type of film or Hollywood construction
there will be a degree of truth and truthiness, as Stephen Colbert coined it. In The Insider, there are two main characters: CBS 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand. According to research, these two characters are represented fairly accurately in the film.
Dr. Jeffrey Wigand
This story is set in a documentary style, and it does an excellent job of following Jeffrey Wigand during this chapter of his life. In a personal interview we conducted with Dr. Wigand, he confirmed the accuracy of many of the scenes in the movie.
Dr. Wigand born and raised in the Bronx, and is the eldest of five siblings. As a child he ran cross-country, and worked part-time as a
nurse. After completion of high school and some college, in 1961 he joined the Air Force. He was assigned to Misawa, Japan where he learned judo
and became fluent in Japanese. After his return, he attended University of
New York and earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry. Where there, he met and married his
wife Linda. For the next 17 years, Dr. Wigand worked in the pharmaceutical and health care field. During
this time, Jeffrey had two daughters, one born with the serious medical illness spina bifida. Upon his return from a medical research opportunity in Japan, Dr. Wigand and his wife divorced. He was hired as the Vice President of Research and Development at Brown & Williamson in 1989, for the purpose of finding a safer means of delivering nicotine. He was fired on March 23rd, 1993 for poor communication. Later, during his correspondence with CBS, he got a job as a high school instructor
teaching chemistry and Japanese. Currently, he works as an adviser to a non-profit organization called Smoke-Free Kids Inc., which he helped found. He is currently well-known for giving speeches around the country against smoking, and working as a consultant on tobacco panels designed to help
keep young kids and teenagers smoke-free.
Lowell Bergman
Lowell A. Bergman was born on July 24th, 1945 in New York City. Bergman received a scholarship to go to the University of Wisconsin, where he was attracted to anti-war movement groups. He also worked in the history department, and got into journalism. He then went on to University of California, San Diego where he got a job reporting for ABC. Eventually, he became a CBS correspondent for the documentary series 60 Minutes. Bergman has lived in Berkeley, California for the past 40 years with his wife Sharon Tiller, and their five children. He frequently contributes documentary pieces for the New York Times. He has also assumed the role of Logan Professorship at the U.C. Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program since 2005, teaching and advising students of journalism.
In the film, Bergman is played by Al
Pacino. Pacino portrays Bergman as a headstrong, justice-seeking journalist. In an interview, Bergman says, "I'm not Italian, I'm not that short, and I don't yell at my superiors quite that much." Other than that, Bergman says Pacino holds true to his personality.
When asked about a possible lawsuit because of “tortious interference,” Bergman clarifies,
When asked about a possible lawsuit because of “tortious interference,” Bergman clarifies,
“I wrote a memo about a week after the final decision came down to kill the story. The memo said, 'so is this the new rule: that no one in the newsroom is supposed to gather information when somebody has a confidentiality agreement, particularly with a large corporation?' And I never really got a formal answer to the question other than, ‘Oh no no, this is one case. This is a special case.’ How do you know if it's a special case or not? The reality is that, with the exception of an article in the Wall Street Journal no publication, either legal journal or anything else I've seen has ever taken the notion seriously."
Mike Wallace
Before Wallace’s 60 Minutes career, he served as a radio newscaster for naval communications in World War II. In 1963, Wallace joined CBS News, and in 1968 the first episode of 60 Minutes was aired. Wallace stepped down as host for 60 Minutes in 2006, and in April of 2012 he died in Connecticut. In the film, Wallace supports the decision of the advisers for CBS to not air the full Wigand interview lest the company was sued. Several years after the Wigand story, Bergman said regarding Wallace, “He didn't like the fact that the movie portrayed him as taking the work from other journalists to make his story.” After The Insider was released, the relationship between Wallace and Bergman ended.
Michael Mann
By Mason Lenches-Jhamb
The critically acclaimed director Michael Mann was responsible for the production of The Insider. He is most notably known for directing action packed productions that range from the 1970’s television show Starskey and Hutch to the exhilarating Manhunter. Mann showed a penchant for drama early on in his career, which has guided his later productions. The majority of his films tend to be crime oriented, which indicates his flare for theatrics. Yet, he does stray from the traditional categorization of “good” cop and “bad” criminal by blurring the lines. This creates characters of all types that can be empathized with. Mann believes his “approach to films tends to be structural, formal, abstract, and humanist.”
Within The Insider, Mann constructs vivid characterizations of the leading protagonists. These characters become the central focus of the movie as they experience an array of emotions. However, the characters are prone to exaggeration and the plot is embellished with more stimulating details. This remains consistent with Mann’s distinct approach to film. He wanted to emphasize the imperfection of the two main characters, and the resulting tumult that was their relationship.
“The beauty of Wigand is his awkwardness," said Mann. "He was definitely a hero, warts and all. He's a scientist who went to work for a tobacco company—for the money. That's what makes his obstinacy so heroic. His personal failings by contrast are what make him so much like us. If there had been bonding and pal-ship between him and Lowell Bergman I might not have had the idea to make the film. It was precisely because Lowell didn't exactly care for the guy, and yet put everything on the line to defend him."
Mann’s portrayal was then born of a desire to convey the characters as merely human in their pursuit of great feats. This is certainly the impression that is left with the audience, albeit the actors take being “human” a step further. Undoubtedly, this is a result of Mann’s previous productions and the content he typically creates. As he is predisposed to dramatic films, he has the potential to carry such sentiments into his other films that may or may not require an “edge”. Thus, Mann’s selective perception skews the portrayal of the characters, making them more similar to those that appear in his other productions.
When taking Mann’s personal factors into account, the accuracy of The Insider still remains consistent with the factual information surrounding the events. The timeline of events is accelerated, the character personalities slightly expanded, and the dramatic appeal is heightened with the inclusion of certain details. Even with such variations, the movie still manages to maintain the integrity of the actual story’s circumstances. As Lowell Bergman stated, “It was emotionally, politically, and, in general, dead on accurate.”
The critically acclaimed director Michael Mann was responsible for the production of The Insider. He is most notably known for directing action packed productions that range from the 1970’s television show Starskey and Hutch to the exhilarating Manhunter. Mann showed a penchant for drama early on in his career, which has guided his later productions. The majority of his films tend to be crime oriented, which indicates his flare for theatrics. Yet, he does stray from the traditional categorization of “good” cop and “bad” criminal by blurring the lines. This creates characters of all types that can be empathized with. Mann believes his “approach to films tends to be structural, formal, abstract, and humanist.”
Within The Insider, Mann constructs vivid characterizations of the leading protagonists. These characters become the central focus of the movie as they experience an array of emotions. However, the characters are prone to exaggeration and the plot is embellished with more stimulating details. This remains consistent with Mann’s distinct approach to film. He wanted to emphasize the imperfection of the two main characters, and the resulting tumult that was their relationship.
“The beauty of Wigand is his awkwardness," said Mann. "He was definitely a hero, warts and all. He's a scientist who went to work for a tobacco company—for the money. That's what makes his obstinacy so heroic. His personal failings by contrast are what make him so much like us. If there had been bonding and pal-ship between him and Lowell Bergman I might not have had the idea to make the film. It was precisely because Lowell didn't exactly care for the guy, and yet put everything on the line to defend him."
Mann’s portrayal was then born of a desire to convey the characters as merely human in their pursuit of great feats. This is certainly the impression that is left with the audience, albeit the actors take being “human” a step further. Undoubtedly, this is a result of Mann’s previous productions and the content he typically creates. As he is predisposed to dramatic films, he has the potential to carry such sentiments into his other films that may or may not require an “edge”. Thus, Mann’s selective perception skews the portrayal of the characters, making them more similar to those that appear in his other productions.
When taking Mann’s personal factors into account, the accuracy of The Insider still remains consistent with the factual information surrounding the events. The timeline of events is accelerated, the character personalities slightly expanded, and the dramatic appeal is heightened with the inclusion of certain details. Even with such variations, the movie still manages to maintain the integrity of the actual story’s circumstances. As Lowell Bergman stated, “It was emotionally, politically, and, in general, dead on accurate.”
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