THE INSIDER
Directed by: Micheal Mann
1999
A very persistent journalist, Mr. Bergman (Al Pacino) receives Cigarette and Fire Safety Product Study from Phillip Morris. He seeks to get help from Dr. Wigand (Russell Crowe) who was fired from his job, and who should be able to translate the documents into something comprehensible. After meeting with Wigand, Bergman realizes that the story isn’t at PM but in Brown & Williams Tobacco Company. Bergman said Wigand should be able to get $10 - $12,000 to share what he knows. Bergman discusses the news with his co-workers at the firm and wants to find a way around or through Wigand’s confidentiality agreement with Brown & Williams Tobacco Company. Wigand’s life began to unfold from when he was fired to getting threats, money and house loss from former CEO Sandefur. Sandefur told Wigand that breaking confidentiality agreements could result in consequences. Despite his confidentiality agreement, Wigand decides to do an interview with CBS.
The director, Michael Mann decides to oscillate between power and time amongst it’s characters. During CBS staff meeting in the beginning of the film, the issues comes up where Brown & Williams are afraid of Wigand. Fear pulls you down from authority, and because they are fearful of the information Wigand knows, makes him powerful. The shot where Wigand walks in the CEO Sandefur office blurry indicates that he’s not important, but showing the reactions of Sandefur doesn’t portray any confidence. When Bergman addresses Wigand’s power about letting the public know about what’s going on with Brown & Williams Tobacco he states, “there is one guy who can figure this out for you and that’s you”. As the movie unfolds the power is transferred to Bergman once he knows about the information in the Tobacco Company. Wigand is now depending on Bergman to set everything right.
Time is essential in the movie because after Wigand talks to Bergman about the documents Bergman found in his mail CEO Sandefur called him in the office to talk about signing another confidentiality agreement. This scene pushes the character into talking to Bergman about the Company. “More time, more time with the kids, more time together” is what Wigand states to his wife when they moved into their new place. After the confession at court Wigand comes home to no family. This scene was important to the film because it created an anticipation that everything wasn’t going to go well. The handheld camera at the prior scene suggests something unbalanced. When everything wasn’t going as planned according to time, Bergman calls some of his friends to push the public’s awareness of Dr. Wigand’s information. Michael Mann did an amazing job putting the fabula together. The camera movement, the syuzhet, the characters were well placed in time of the film.
- Anisha Payne
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2 comments:
I'm not sure that I understand how you're using the issue of "time" to comment on the narrative structure of the film. Does the structure of the film itself do anything with time? Or is it just a theme that the characters refer to? I think that you're on the right track in terms of trying to move away from evaluative claims, but you have to then support statements that you make with clear cut examples from the film and use the analytical tools presented in the reading to support your ideas.
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