Network 4K 1976 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Howard Beale, the regular star of UBS-TV news, got burned: he had a nervous breakdown during a live broadcast. Ironically, his public outburst boosted his already fabulous ratings, much to the surprise and delight of UBS bosses. As a result, having become famous as the "mad prophet of live television," he soon became a pawn for the ruthless television bosses, who milked him for crazy antics at every opportunity. Naturally, when the "prophet" became a liability, something had to be done about him urgently, preferably on camera and in front of a full audience.

Review 4K Movie

Before watching this film, I had only seen one film by Sidney Lumet, his debut feature film Twelve Angry Men, which already made it clear that Lumet is a force to be reckoned with. Not only is he a remarkable director who loves to delve into people without moralizing, but his films are also incredibly relevant. Take, for example, Twelve Angry Men. The fact that there are at least two remakes of it suggests that this theme will always be of interest to viewers. In this case, in my opinion, the theme of “Television Networks” went even further, becoming almost prophetic.

Of course, the main feature of the film is a whole bouquet of stunning roles. I rarely mention the actors' performances because few films can boast even one bright character worthy of separate mention, but this is a case where the actors not only delight, but also amaze with the depth of their characters and vitality. And there are not just one or two of them... everyone who has even the slightest dialogue or monologue gives 200%, and no one tries to steal the show.

Faye Dunaway plays a ruthless careerist who, as the plot unfolds, degenerates into a machine as insane and ruthless as the mass media itself. William Holden's character is a television executive who sees the decline in television standards and is powerless to resist it. Robert Duvall and his character, brilliantly played by Frank Hackett, are both ruthless and pitiful. Ned Beatty, in his small but masterfully performed monologue, shows true acting class.

The list goes on, but the main feature of the film is, of course, Peter Finch, who is by no means central in terms of screen time, but is the main character in terms of plot development. He puts his whole soul into his role, and even more than that. His character, an elderly correspondent driven to despair and turned into a “mad prophet in prime time,” is simply stunning. If Robert De Niro hadn't been nominated for an Oscar that year for his role in Taxi Driver, I would say that the Oscar was well deserved, but don't listen to me here, Taxi Driver is personal to me.
The plot is an almost absurd black comedy, a satire on the media. The plot is as follows. Due to poor ratings on one of the channels, a personnel reshuffle is brewing. As a result, one of the hosts, the elderly Howard Beale, who was there from the very beginning, is fired and in retaliation announces that he will commit suicide on live television.
His statement leads to a rise in ratings, and naturally, the TV network cannot fail to take advantage of this. So Howard goes from being an almost unemployed old man to a major sensation and even gets his own special show, in which he, like a prophet, reveals to citizens the truth about this crazy, crazy, crazy world (by the way, after his insanity, he, in his views on the cry for help of the common man, is very reminiscent of Tyler Durden from Fight Club).
As you can see, the plot is unusual, and this is what makes the film incredibly powerful, because here you don't just get nostalgia for the old days, but almost a milestone in the art of cinema. Of course, everything Bill talks about is no surprise to anyone today, especially after watching, say, The Spirit of the Times or George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck, which exposed the degradation of television and society as a whole. But back in 1976, Lumet's film said the same thing in a much more cinematic language. It is precisely because of this that Network will always be relevant, at least until the television network system collapses or the government puts its paw on what is currently being shown on TV. Until then, only ratings and obsession with sensationalism will rule this world and impose a culture of mass consumption as a whole. And there is not even cynicism and cruelty here, or rather, there is... Cynicism is rampant, but in our time, when it has become the norm, when human life is worth nothing but ratings, cynicism has become a normal human way of seeing things, while words such as conscience and decency have become completely obsolete. So who knows, maybe the story of murder for ratings has long been practiced on our television networks.

By the way, it is worth mentioning that the film received 10 Oscar nominations, five of which were for acting, and three of which were won. Personally, I cannot recall another film that had five acting nominations and won three of them.

Conclusion. A frightening, prophetic film warning that, in my opinion, was ahead of its time. All this hysteria about the fact that we are all being manipulated by THE MATRIX, that is, mass culture that is zombifying humanity, only began to be openly demonstrated a couple of decades later.