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Network By Jeff Shannon
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.
Academy Awards
Network received Academy Awards
for Actor (Peter Finch), Actress (Faye Dunaway), Supporting Actress
(Beatrice Straight), and Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the
screen; Paddy Chayefsky). Network also received Academy
Awards nominations for Best Picture (Howard Gottfried - Producer),
Actor (William Holden), Supporting Actor (Ned Beatty), Directing (Sidney
Lumet), Cinematography (Owen Roizman and Film Editing (Alan Heim). |
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