Word: manns
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...line between fact and fiction is always shaky, how well-defined is it in The Insider? Although Mann has admitted to taking dramatic license with some of the characters and events, the film nevertheless presents itself as a hard-hitting, true-to-life account of exactly what went on behind the scenes at "60 Minutes." And Mann's version of the "truth," however manipulated it might be, is raising pulses and tempers at "60 Minutes...
...Although Mann has added certain specifics to the story, like invented dialogue, Lowell Bergman insists that the essence of the story is intact. "The big, broad truths of this are all public record," says Bergman. "In that sense the film is basically accurate." But does "basically accurate" really cut it for a film dealing with such delicate subject matter? The real-life Wigand and Bergman, the two protagonists of the film, have not objected to Mann's portrayals of themselves and their stories. However, Bergman says his character in the film is "too neat" to really be him, and Wigand...
...Mike Wallace, who has not yet seen the film, is especially touchy about his portrayal on-screen. He is afraid of being distorted, of having his reputation damaged by Mann's film or of being made out as the "bad guy" of the story. If Wallace is worried about looking bad in the film, he has little to worry about; although his character does waver, for understandable reasons, he ultimately decides to support Bergman and put the interview on. In the film, Wallace is an intriguing, human, and very sympathetic character; he is not without flaws, but despite this...
...what if Mann, for dramatic emphasis in the film, had decided to make Wallace and Hewitt look as amoral and unsympathetic as possible, thus completely misrepresenting their characters? Does Mann have more of an obligation to creating his art or of representing the figures and events involved in a fair and factual...
...Mann has certain responsibilities as a filmmaker, but he also has the right to tell a story; it is his decision on how to balance the obligations of fact and fiction, and hopefully he will respect the powers of each. "Wallace and Hewitt have criticized the film because it's Michael Mann's view of my perspective, or Wigand's perspective," Bergman says. Luckily, Mann, even with the dramatic license he takes, is still committed to telling the true story; but what if the next filmmaker who comes along decides to sacrifice fact for fiction's sake...