Livestream: Double-edged sword of a whistle-blower’s job

Director Michael Mann, who is known in Hollywood as the father of nocturnal thrillers, with movies such as Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice under his belt, is equally at ease crafting biopics (like the Mohd Ali inspired Ali) and real life accounts like The Insider (1999). 

The story is inspired  by the trials and tribulations of Dr Jeffrey Wigand, (played by Russell Crowe), a researcher working with the American tobacco company Brown & Williamson, who turns a whistle-blower, to expose the inner workings of Big Tobacco in the US and refute the claims of the seven big tobacco makers to the Senate concerning the supposed non addictive nature of nicotine, the primary ingredient in cigarettes. 

Wigand’s expose is brought to life by the charismatic producer of the TV show 60 Minutes , Lowell Bergman (played by a powerhouse Al Pacino). 

The film which is shot and acted out almost in a documentary fashion has a running time of around 3 hours. But thanks to the highly compelling performances, you might barely notice the narrative fly by. 

The film follows a typical three act structure, introducing Dr Wigand to the audiences, and making them complicit in his struggles, as he juggles with the notion of losing his cushy life in exchange for telling the truth and of course, the imminent danger of being eliminated altogether for being a whistle-blower. 

The film is rife with quote worthy and board room debate-worthy moments, but two scenes were embedded in this reporter’s memory for eternity. 

One scene involves Dr Wigand, attending to a medical emergency in his home, as his  daughter, an asthmatic toddler, undergoes an acute attack one night, just after he returns home. 

The juxtaposition of his professional and personal life and the human cost of the multi trillion dollar industry that he is both a victim and participant of, offers ample scope for deliberation. 

Another crackling scene involving Bergman comes towards the end of the film, and serves as a brilliant counterpoint to the notion of media protecting its witnesses and saving them from harm, in return for the truth they dare not divulge. 

As an indictment of both modern day media and corporate ethics, in the era of scamsters and breaking news, the relevance of The Insider as a time capsule for the ages, is undisputed.