“Oscar”-winning films are usually quickly forgotten. When it doesn’t happen, it usually has something to do with those films having certain special quality. In case of Network, 1976 drama directed by Sidney Lumet, that quality was prophetic.
The film was made in a time when the media landscape in USA was very different from the media landscape today. National television consisted of only three major broadcast networks – NBC, CBS and ABC – and for decades attempts to launch the fourth network failed. The plot deals with UBS, fictional fourth network that managed to stay on air, albeit with increasing financial difficulties and declining ratings. Narrator and nominal protagonist of the film is Max Schumacher (played by William Holden), president of UBS news division, who has an unpleasant duty to inform his old friend and veteran news anchor Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch), that he would be fired. When Beale informs audience about this change during his regular broadcast, he adds that he would shoot himself next time he goes on air. The incident creates quite a stir and UBS viewing ratings go up. Beale is talked out of suicide, but his farewell address on air degenerates in angry anti-establishment rant which creates even more publicity and sympathy among viewers. Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway), ambitious head of UBS programming department, sees this as an opportunity and talks her bosses into giving Beale new chance by rebranding him into “mad prophet of the airwaves”. Beale gets news show, in which his rants are accompanied by psychics and entertainers. Ratings soar, but increasingly unhinged Beale crosses the line after attacking banks and multinational corporation connected with UBS, so he is talked into taking more establishment-friendly attitude. As his ratings begin to fall, Diana has already found an alternative in group of murderous Maoist terrorists that would star in their own television show.
At the time of its premiere Network was originally advertised as comedy. People watching it today see it as rather serious drama and for many this is the ultimate proof that Paddy Chayefsky in his “Oscar”-awarded script correctly predicted the future. What looked like a satirical exaggeration of mid 1970s trends – dangerous blending of news and entertainment, heartless pursuit of ratings by delivering sensationalist stories about violence and sex, exploiting raw emotion at the expense of thoughtful debate – nowadays looks like a banal and depressive reality. The trends that replaced old statesman-like anchors like Walter Cronkite with blonde bombshells, comedian and partisan hacks corresponded with the gradual but unstoppable rise of reality television that would culminate with the reality television star being elected to US President. Unsurprisingly, reputation of Network only rose since November 2016 and the clips from it are often used to illustrate everything that is wrong with the world today.
While Network portrays what it turn out to be future, its origins were in the past, namely in the beginnings of Chayefsky’s career as television writer in early 1950s. In those times, sometimes unironically called the Golden Age of Television, television sets were relatively expensive and signals still limited to large urban centres like New York, with audiences being wealthier, more educated and with more refined tastes than the average population, which resulted in networks dedicating large segments of their program to opera, ballets, classical music concerts, debates about foreign literature or prestigious television plays, including those written by Chayefsky. Quarter of century later American television was already transformed into institution driven by the need to attract “lowest common denominator” through incredibly tasteless talents shows, sitcoms with jumping sharks and drama shows about bikini-clad models fighting crime. Chayefsky was bitter and that bitterness, combined with insider knowledge, resulted in the most devastating portrayal of American media institutions. Chayefsky was fortunate to work with Lumet, another early television veteran who wisely switched small for big screen, using the increased creative freedom of 1970s Hollywood to deliver series of strong, socially conscious and often anti-establishment films like this one.
At the time of its premiere, the most attractive aspect of Network was acting. Peter Finch delivered incredibly strong performance, which later became legendary partly because of his untimely demise that would result in being first actor who receive Oscar for Best Actor posthumously. Faye Dunaway also delivers incredible talent in her energetic interpretation of career-driven woman who would stop at nothing to attain her goal, and which was also awarded by “Oscar”. Holden, who plays the former idealist turned cynic, is also very good but is predictably overshadowed by those two, including Ned Beatty in short but memorable role of UBS corporate overlord successfully lecturing Beale about true nature of the world. Holden nevertheless serve important purpose by playing the only relatively “normal” character with whom audience can relate to. This effect is, on the other hand, compromised with unnecessary subplot involving romance between Schumacher and Diana, including even less necessary subplot involving effects such affair has on Schumacher’s wife Louise (played by Beatrice Straight). Although this episode could have been left out of the picture, it nevertheless served its purpose by bringing another “Oscar”, this time for Straight in rather short performance.
Network is an imperfect film, but its prophetic reputation is well-deserved, so it’s unlikely that it would lose its relevance and importance in years to come. Problems that erupted in today’s world have been accumulating for a long time and it is, sadly, very likely that what Network was warned us would be removed only after equally long time.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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