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''The Insider'' is a 1999 American drama film directed by Michael Mann, based on the true story of a ''60 Minutes'' segment about Jeffrey Wigand, a whistleblower in the tobacco industry. The ''60 Minutes'' story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS' then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who also controlled the Lorillard Tobacco Company. The story later aired in a complete and uncensored form on February 4, 1996. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, the film stars Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, with Christopher Plummer, Bruce McGill, Diane Venora, Michael Gambon, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Gina Gershon, Debi Mazar, and Colm Feore in supporting roles. The script was adapted by Eric Roth and Mann from Marie Brenner's ''Vanity Fair'' article "The Man Who Knew Too Much". It was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. ==Plot== During a prologue that is not directly related to the main plot, CBS producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino) convinces the founder of Hezbollah, Sheikh Fadlallah, to grant an interview to Mike Wallace (Plummer) for ''60 Minutes''. While preparing for the interview, both Wallace and Bergman firmly stand their ground against the Sheikh's armed and hostile bodyguards' attempted intimidation and disruption. In Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) leaves his office at the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company and returns home to his wife, Liane (Venora), and their two daughters. When Liane finds boxes in the back of Jeffrey's car, he distantly admits to her that Thomas Sandefur (Gambon), the CEO of the firm, has fired him. Bergman, pursuing a tobacco-related story and seeking someone to translate leaked technical documents, is referred to Wigand by a friend at the FDA. Wigand agrees to interpret the documents but insists he cannot discuss anything further, citing a corporate confidentiality agreement; Bergman senses something worth investigating. Wigand is later summoned to a meeting with Sandefur, who seeks to coerce him into signing a broader confidentiality agreement. A company lawyer threatens to terminate his severance pay and his family's health benefits, and file suit against him, if they believe he is writing in bad faith. Wigand angrily leaves, calling Bergman and accusing him of betrayal. Bergman visits Wigand's house and vigorously denies revealing anything to B&W. Wigand, reassured, talks to Bergman about tobacco companies, and how the "Seven Dwarves" (the seven CEOs of the Big Tobacco companies) perjured themselves when they testified to Congress that they did not believe nicotine to be addictive. Wigand contrasts them with what he sees as the more conscientious healthcare companies he previously worked for, and concedes he feels hypocritical for believing he could maintain scientific ideals while working for a tobacco company. Although apparently possessing very damaging information about B&W, Wigand hesitates to do anything that might threaten his family's medical coverage. At CBS News headquarters in New York City, Bergman and Wallace meet with a CBS lawyer, who states that Wigand's confidentiality agreement, combined with the tobacco industry's unlimited checkbook, effectively silences him. Bergman suggests that if Wigand were compelled to testify in court against one or more of the Big Tobacco firms, he might not suffer legal repercussions from being interviewed by CBS, as the information would already be on public record. Bergman contacts Richard Scruggs (Feore), a private attorney representing the State of Mississippi against the tobacco industry, seeking reimbursement of Medicaid costs for treating smoking-related illnesses. Scruggs expresses interest in Bergman's idea, and asks him to arrange for Wigand to talk. The Wigand family move into a more modest house in a different neighborhood, Wigand now teaching chemistry and Japanese at duPont Manual High School. One night Barbara, the older daughter, awakens Jeffrey because she has seen someone outside. Wigand finds a fresh human footprint in his newly planted garden, and receives a sinister phone call when he returns indoors. Wigand and Bergman share dinner the following night, Bergman asking if Wigand has any incidents in his past which Big Tobacco might try to dig up and use to discredit him. Wigand reveals several such incidents but believes them to be irrelevant, and in frustration accuses Bergman of using him to profit from the public appetite for scandal. Bergman responds by comparing his history of personal integrity with Wigand's life of enriched corporate detachment, accusing him of using "cheap skepticism" to avoid deciding whether or not to proceed. Some time later Wigand receives an emailed death threat against him and his family, and finds a bullet in his mailbox. He contacts the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but the agents who attend are hostile, subtly accusing him of emotional imbalance, questioning his gun ownership, and confiscating his computer. Bergman contacts an FBI official in Washington DC, suggesting improper collusion between the agents and retired agents now employed by Brown & Williamson in corporate security. The official promises to investigate. Wigand, enraged over the threats to his family, demands that Bergman arrange an interview immediately. In the interview he states that B&W intentionally make their cigarettes more addictive, consciously ignoring health considerations in the interest of profit, and accuses Thomas Sandefur of perjuring himself before a congressional committee. Later, Wigand calls Richard Scruggs and the two agree to meet to discuss the lawsuit. When Wigand returns home, he finds Lowell and a security detail of three men, whom Lowell has arranged. The Wigands suffer marital stress from the increased pressure. During Wigand's journey to Mississippi to give his deposition, a functionary serves him with a temporary restraining order from a Kentucky court, prohibiting his testimony. Although the state judge in Mississippi refuses to honor the order, everyone involved agrees that if Wigand testifies in Mississippi, he could face arrest and jail for contempt when he returns to Kentucky. After long and intense introspection, Wigand decides to go to court anyway. After a display of courtroom fireworks among the attorneys, who include hostile representatives from B&W, Wigand is permitted to testify about the drug effects of nicotine. Although elated, Wigand discovers on his return to Louisville that Liane has left him, taking their daughters with her. At the CBS News headquarters, Bergman, Wallace and Don Hewitt (Hall), the creator and executive producer of ''60 Minutes'', are summoned to a meeting with the legal counsel for CBS News, Helen Caperelli (Gershon). Caperelli invokes and describes a legal theory, called ''tortious interference'': anyone who induces someone to break a legal agreement may be sued by the other party to that agreement for "interfering." By this theory, the more truth Wigand tells, the greater the chance of a lawsuit from B&W, and the greater the damage CBS may suffer. Later, Eric Kluster (Tobolowsky), the president of CBS News, decides to omit Wigand's interview from the segment. Bergman vehemently objects, believing that tortious interference is a red herring: the real reason for the cut is that the executives fear that a potential multimillion-dollar lawsuit from B&W will jeopardize the pending sale of CBS to Westinghouse, risking a loss or reduction of profits to certain CBS stockholders who have substantial CBS shareholdings, including both Caperelli and Kluster. Wallace and Hewitt agree to edit the segment, leaving Bergman alone to advocate airing it uncensored. In an attempt to discredit Wigand and his testimony, one or more of the members of Big Tobacco hire an investigator to turn over Wigand's personal history, passing their findings to the public-relations firm of John Scanlon (Torn), in New York City, which then publishes and circulates a 500-page dossier to various people in the news media. Bergman obtains a copy of the document, and learns that ''The Wall Street Journal'' will soon use it as the basis of a piece questioning Wigand's credibility. Bergman believes the dossier to be a smear campaign, and arranges for Jack Palladino (playing himself), an attorney and investigator based in San Francisco, to evaluate the dossier. He presents the findings to the editor of the ''Journal'', who agrees to delay the deadline for the story, and assigns two of his own reporters to examine Palladino's findings. Nonetheless, infighting at CBS News about the segment prompts Hewitt to order Bergman to take an immediate "vacation." During this, the abridged ''60 Minutes'' segment airs. With some difficulty, Bergman completes a telephone call to Wigand, who is both dejected and furious, and accuses Bergman of manipulation. Bergman defends his own motives and behavior, praising Wigand and his testimony. Bergman is urged by Scruggs to air the interview with Wigand, their own lawsuit under threat by a lawsuit from the governor of Mississippi. Bergman is unable to offer any possibility of this, and privately questions his own motives in pursuing the story. Bergman's wife persuades him to press on, and he contacts an editor at ''The New York Times'', confirming that CBS corporate executives forced the withdrawal of the ''60 Minutes'' interview with Wigand, disclosing the full story to the editor. The next morning the story makes the front page of ''The New York Times'', and a scathing editorial titled "Self-Censorship at CBS" condemns CBS, accusing them of "betraying the legacy of Edward R. Murrow".〔"(Self-Censorship at CBS )." ''The New York Times''. November 12, 1995. Retrieved on October 9, 2014.〕 ''The Wall Street Journal'' prints its analysis of the dossier, dismissing it as "largely unsubstantiated" and the lowest form of character assassination, and printing Wigand's deposition in its entirety. Eventually ''60 Minutes'' airs the original segment, including the full interview with Wigand.〔(Transcript of the edited segment containing Wigand's interview )〕 Despite this, Bergman tells Wallace that he intends to resign from CBS, believing ''60 Minutes credibility and integrity has been permanently tarnished. The film ends with text cards summarizing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, and the careers of Wigand and Bergman after the events of the film. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Insider (film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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