Network [Region 2] dvd movie.|
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Features • PAL In Theaters : 1976 |
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Network [Region 2] description Media madness reigns supreme in screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky's scathing satire about the uses and abuses of network television. But while Chayefsky's and director Sidney Lumet's take on television may seem quaint in the age of "reality TV" and Jerry Springer's talk-show fisticuffs, it's every bit as potent now as it was when the film was released in 1976. And because Chayefsky was one of the greatest of all dramatists, his Oscar-winning script about the ratings frenzy at the cost of cultural integrity is a showcase for powerhouse acting by Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight (who each won Oscars), and Oscar nominee William Holden in one of his finest roles. Finch plays a veteran network anchorman who's been fired because of low ratings. His character's response is to announce he'll kill himself on live television two weeks hence. What follows, along with skyrocketing ratings, is the anchorman's descent into insanity, during which he fervently rages against the medium that made him a celebrity. Dunaway plays the frigid, ratings-obsessed producer who pursues success with cold-blooded zeal; Holden is the married executive who tries to thaw her out during his own seething midlife crisis. Through it all, Chayefsky (via Finch) urges the viewer to repeat the now-famous mantra "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" to reclaim our humanity from the medium that threatens to steal it away. --Jeff Shannon |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | News Accountable to Network, Sold to the Highest Bidder According to Ratings |
| A refreshingly cynical film about the fallout occuring from transitioning the business of journalism to a commoditized commercial interest. A peak experience movie that captures the business of marketing anger, as enabled by the ambitious personalities beholden to nothing but competitive advantage.
The conflict is a struggle of principles for prominence, one that serves the sense of an individual free will against the "forces of nature" argued as capitalism. The prophet for the humanistic cause makes his choices and the captivated public echoes him enthusiastically whatever his position happens to be. Why? The business of amusement doesn't serve any great human design, only the ceremonious murder of boredom. There is also a love story, that serves as an excellent compatibility experiment between the old and new. William Holden, our objective old school news executive is loyal to the news and the traditional values, and we see his transformation upon realizations of whether falling for the seductive charms of a mercenary agent of entertainment are really worth the conversion. And what is to be said of this new mercenary, how would she fare having to face the responsibility for genuine human experience? Who, needed whom? I think my favorite part had to be the legal terms and conditions negotiations between the ecumenical liberation army and the network attorneys over the Mao Tse Tung Hour. I am amazed at the extent to which the makers of this film demonstrated lucid self awareness with vivid and meaningful representations of the competing ideologies at work. I wonder to what extent the hippy celebrations for the dawning of the age of aquarious mantras had something to do with this film's themes, given its timing and central arguments against the hypocrisy inherent in the new order of things. Many have wondered if the hippy generations really added anything to the American Experience. Perhaps this film could be argued in favor of the cause to expand American awareness through creative license. I think my review is only about 32 years overdue, however, I just discovered this film a couple of months ago, and to be honest, I was very young when it came out, more captivated by Sesame Street at that point in time. Altogether a fascinating and intriguing story with brillint dialog, direction, performances and an outstanding story in general. I wonder how the people of Fox News would comment on this film given their current criticims. |
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