《The Insider》　驚曝內(nèi)幕　自由之路向來滿布荊棘

No.076　《The Insider》　驚曝內(nèi)幕　自由之路向來滿布荊棘

英文導讀

The Insider is a 1999 film directed by Michael Mann based on the true story of a 60 Minutes segment about tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand. 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 was later aired on February 4, 1996. The script was adapted by Eric Roth and Mann from Marie Brenner's Vanity Fair article"The Man Who Knew Too Much".

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 Insider tells the true story of a man who decided to tell the world what the seven major tobacco companies knew (and concealed) about the dangers of their product. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) was a scientist employed in research for a tobacco firm, Brown and Williamson. Not long after he was fired by Brown and Williamson, Wigand came into contact with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a producer for 60 Minutes who worked closely with journalist Mike Wallace (played here by Christopher Plummer). Bergman arranged for Wigand to be interviewed by Wallace for a 60 Minutes expose on the cigarette industry, though Wigand was still bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss his employment with the company. Despite Wigand's willingness to talk, CBS pulled his interview from at the last minute after Brown and Williamson threatened a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. The staff of 60 Minutes and CBS News were soon embroiled in an internal struggle over the killing of the story, and Wigand found himself the subject of lawsuits and a smear campaign, without his full story reaching the public.

The Insider was released in 1809 theaters on November 5, 1999 where it grossed a total of$6,712,361 on its opening weekend and ranked fourth in the country for that time period. It went on to make$29.1 million in North America and $31.2 million in the rest of the world for a total of $60.3 million worldwide, significantly lower than its $90 million budget.

Despite the disappointing box office reception, The Insider received near-unanimous critical praise, garnering some of the best reviews of 1999 and of Michael Mann's career. It holds a 96% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 127 reviews and an 84 metascore on Metacritic. Roger Ebert of the Chicago SunTimes gave the film three and half out of four stars and praised "its power to absorb, entertain, and anger". Newsweek magazine's David Ansen wrote, "Mann could probably make a movie about needlepoint riveting. Employing a big canvas, a huge cast of superb character actors and his always exquisite eye for composition, he's made the kind of current-events epic that Hollywood has largely abandoned to TV—and shows us how movies can do it better".

In 2000, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Crowe, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Sound (Andy Nelson, Doug Hemphill and Lee Orloff).

獲獎情況

2000年第72屆奧斯卡：最佳影片提名、最佳導演提名、最佳男主角提名、最佳改編劇本提名、最佳攝影提名。

影片信息

導演：邁克爾·曼

編?。喊鹂?middot;羅斯、邁克爾·曼

主演：艾爾·帕西諾、羅素·克勞、克里斯托弗·普拉默、戴安·維諾拉

類型：劇情、驚悚、傳記

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國

上映日期：1999-11-05（美國）

片長：157分鐘

又名：《局內(nèi)人》《奪命煙幕》《知情者》《內(nèi)幕新聞》

劇情簡介

勞埃爾·伯格曼（艾爾·帕西諾飾）是CBS電視臺“60分鐘”節(jié)目的王牌制作人，和德高望重的節(jié)目主持人邁克·華萊士（克里斯托弗·普拉默飾）向來合作無間。

喬佛瑞·維根（羅素·克勞飾）是煙草公司的員工，剛被大煙草公司解雇，他的人生似乎瞬間墜入谷底。伯格曼收到一份證明煙草公司制造的香煙對人體有害的報告。于是，他找到維根來解釋這份報告。

從這個時候開始，維根感覺到有人在監(jiān)視自己，家人的安全受到了極大的威脅。煙草公司提醒維根與自己簽署過保密協(xié)議，他將不能對外透露任何有關香煙制造的研究信息。維根不想失去醫(yī)療保險等對家人生活的保障，然而同時也備受良心拷問。最終，他決定向外界宣布這一切，即使違反保密協(xié)議。于是先和伯格曼錄制了一集“60分鐘”欄目，然后前往密西西比州出庭作證控告煙草公司。

然而，煙草公司比他更快一步申請了言論禁制令。他的妻子帶著兩個女兒離去，“60分鐘”欄目又遭到CBS禁播。這一切巨大的代價讓人壓不過氣。維根和伯格曼成了單打獨斗的勇士，他們面對內(nèi)心的正義、勇敢，并一直堅持。

制作花絮

導演曼是看了克勞演的《洛城機密》后才決定起用他。

本片是金獎影帝艾爾·帕西諾的最新作品，與導演邁克爾·曼繼《盜火線》后的第二次合作。

重點學習

Because of objections by CBS' then-owner

文中的because of是英語中一個很常用的固定搭配，它是“因為，由于”的意思，比如：His business went under because of competition from the large corporations.（由于大公司的競爭，他的生意陷入了困境。）

Wigand came into contact with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino)

文中的come into contact with是英語中的一個固定搭配，在文中是“接觸到，聯(lián)系到；與…聯(lián)系”的意思，比如：He come into contact with a lot of new idea while work abroad.（在國外工作期間他接觸到許多新的思想。）

單詞時間

segment[?seɡm(xù)?nt] n. 段；部分

tobacco[t??bæk?u] n. 煙草，煙葉；煙草制品；抽煙

contact[?k?ntækt] n. 接觸，聯(lián)系

cigarette[?siɡ??ret] n. 香煙；紙煙

confidentiality[?k?nfi?den?i?æliti] n. 機密，機密性

willingness[?wili?nis] n. 樂意；心甘情愿；自動自發(fā)

embroil[im?br?il] vt. 使卷入；使混亂

smear[smi?] n. 涂片；誹謗；污點

unanimous[ju:?nænim?s] adj. 全體一致的；意見一致的；無異議的

absorb[?b?s?:b] vt. 吸收；吸引；承受；理解；使…全神貫注

needlepoint[?ni:dlp?int] n. 針尖；針繡花邊

exquisite[?ekskwizit] adj. 精致的；細膩的；高雅的；異常的；劇烈的