“The Insider” A gritty social drama that captures the moment when journalism is in retreat.

Working with real people to faithfully adapt a true story into a movie

According to an article about "The Insider" published in the web magazine "Vulture" (October 30, 2019 issue) produced by the American magazine "The New Yorker", Michael Mann He was planning a film about arms dealers and apparently consulted with Lowell Bergman, the producer of the CBS news program ``60 Minutes.''

Around the fall of 1995, while the two were planning the project, Weigand's accusations were aired on ``60 Minutes.'' However, the content was undesirable due to fear of prosecution by tobacco companies. Mann saw this and became interested in depicting the end of the turmoil surrounding the tobacco industry that Weigand and Bergman were involved in.

According to the article, Mann told Bergman, "Forget about the arms dealer movie. The case you're involved in is more interesting." He approached screenwriter Eric Roth, who had won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ` `Forrest Gump '' (1994). He contacted Bergman, and after talking, they hit it off. I also had the opportunity to meet whistleblower Jeffrey Weigand.

The original idea for this film was Marie Breiner's article ``The Man Who Knew Too Much'' published in the American culture magazine ``Vanity Fair'' (February 1996 issue). The director conducted a rigorous "fact check" on the article and aimed to create a film that does not distort the facts. According to the director, he wanted to make a work that took advantage of Bergman's journalistic spirit (though, of course, the drama was adapted for film).

"The Insider" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

Mann said the only person he considered for the role of Bergman was Al Pacino. Up until then, Pacino had been a gangster in films such as The Godfather series (1972-90) and Scarface (1983), a police officer in Serpico (1973) and Heat , and a film in The Afternoon of Dog Day Afternoon (1975). He has played roles such as a robber and a soldier in the Oscar-winning ` `Scent of a Woman '' (1992). Mann said that he wanted to bring out his unique personality, but Pacino, who plays the role of a producer who is trying to protect the witnesses on the show, gives an unusually restrained and deep acting. Mann and Pacino apparently dated an editor at Time magazine, gaining experience in the world of journalism and applying it to their film roles.

For the role of the accuser, Wigand, Mann initially considered Val Kilmer, who he had cast in `` Heat ,'' but after seeing `` LA Confidential '' (1997), he turned to Russell Crowe. Crowe was 33 when this story came out, but the real-life Weigand was in his mid-50s. At first, he was reluctant to play a character 20 years older than his actual age, but after he decided to take on the role, he gained 16 kg, bleached his hair seven times and turned it gray, and became the main character. I became a middle-aged man. I also listened to a six-hour tape of his speech over and over again, trying to learn how he spoke. Apparently he also met with Weigand himself. The main character had lived in Japan and was good at Japanese, so Crowe himself studied Japanese for the role (there are scenes where he speaks Japanese).

Weigand, who appears in the "Vanity Fair" article, is also a man with a lot of hidden anger, and writer Breiner describes him as "anxious in his face, with a mysterious darkness about him. (Irving is known as the author of `` The World According to Garp '' and `` Hotel New Hampshire .'')

Veteran Christopher Plummer plays the role of Mike Wallace, the famous anchor on the American national news program ``60 Minutes,'' in which Weingand appeared, but it was Pacino who recommended him for the role, and it was Pacino who recommended him for the role. He has been a fan for a long time, having seen him perform many times. Mann had also wanted to work with Plummer since the 1970s and agreed to cast him.

By co-starring three acting actors from different generations, the performance is also highly concentrated. Philip Baker Hall, who starred in ` `Boogie Nights '' (1997) and `` Magnolia '' (1999), plays Don Hewitt, the executive producer of ``60 Minutes.'' British actor Michael Gambon plays a tobacco industry tycoon who publicly denies the addictive nature of nicotine. He is best known for his role as the good-natured headmaster in the Harry Potter series since 2004, but in this movie, he shows off his conniving side even though he only appears briefly.

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