“I would like at this moment to announce that I will be retiring from this program in two weeks’ time because of poor ratings. Since this show is the only thing I had going for me in my life, I’ve decided to kill myself. I’m going to blow my brains out right on this program a week from today. So tune in next Tuesday…“
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 121 Minutes
Special Features: The Directors: Sidney Lumet a 1999 documentary on the director, containing interviews with Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, Christopher Walken and others ,Tune in Next Tuesday a visual essay by Dave Itzkoff, the author of Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies, Theatrical Trailer
When NETWORK was originally released in 1976, the world of the TV wasn’t drowned in endless reality shows and sensationalist news stories that had us struggling for the air of true realism. The movie won four Academy Awards for its stunning script and portrayal of a media world altering rapidly to suit its audience and a public desire for brutal honesty on the air.
Starring William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall and directed by Sidney Lumet, the film initially focuses around aging News Anachor Howard Beale (Finch), who’s hosting on the lowest ranked TV network and has decided to retire. During one of his final shows, he decides to announce live on air that he’ll commit suicide in exactly one week and to the nation. The revelation is a huge one that not only results in an increase in viewers but a consequential chaotic bid to exploit Beale’s potential on-air breakdown. The network chooses to seize the moment and sell it as their major selling point for its own profit and success.
What makes NETWORK disturbingly relevant, nearly 40 years later, is how desperate media companies still are to grab your attention by any means necessary. Recently, the likes of NIGHTCRAWLER highlighted a modern media outlets needs for bloodier and violent content via a disturbed Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) and to be honest, NETWORK feels like a huge influence as it delves into the dark world of executives who’ll do anything to get bigger and better airtime. You can also see how much influence this style had on the likes of Aaron Sorkin and very specifically on his underrated series The Newsroom which definitely ran along the same lines of desperation and the need for integrity in a media world full of illusion.
But, for a moment, enough about the relatable side with today’s market, NETWORK easily stands up to the test of time and you can see why it had such a huge impact at the time. The performances of the lead quartet are exemplary as Dunaway, Holden, Finch and Duvall all play their part to the success and downfall of the network. While Finch is used as a pawn among the others games, his lunacy becomes the only thing that’s real and honest as his meltdown turns into sound-bites and quotable dialogue. “I’m as mad as hell and I’m going to take it anymore!” could easily be used today against the empty void of reality television, untrustworthy politicians and civil unrest because everything that Lumet’s direction and Paddy Chayefsky’s script says is applicable to now.
Although also undoubtedly an essay on the simple nature of the viewing public, NETWORK is furthermore a damming lecture on the messiah-like nature that television produces. There’s a selection of expansive monologues I found myself agreeing with and this just goes to prove that not much changes over time, and the fact we’re still influenced by the equivalent processes is utterly terrifying.
NETWORK is a true work of genius with four deserved Oscars to its name, which ironically it probably wouldn’t win if it came out today. It’s absolutely compelling and brilliant; add to it your ‘must-watch’ list now.
[usr=5] NETWORK is available to buy on Blu-ray now from Arrow Academy, it’s a true classic and part of that must-watch collection.
Extras: As well the special features mentioned before, you also get a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Walker, Collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mike Sutton and an American Cinematographer article by director of photography Owen Roizman, illustrated with original stills and artwork.
