One of the most striking images from the movies of the '70s is that of Howard Beale going nuts in front of sixty million viewers.
So, yeah, I'm talking about Network. That beautiful, beautiful film Sidney Lumet crafted way back in 1976 from a deliciously candid script by Paddy Chayefsky that did most of the talking and using a bunch of actors that defined what acting was all about. Yes, that film. Now those of you who remember Network know which scene I'm wanting to talk about. One of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema, made sublime by a brilliant actor and a peerless screenwriter. And when Beale mouths off the magical words from the pen of Chayefsky, what revels is a sequence, a premonition really, that confounds us with its reasoning and its veracity.
Ironic though it is, it was also the first scene of the movie I had seen. I was skipping through the channels on television and I saw this great-looking movie on one of them. And before I could even find out the name of the film, Peter Finch howled why he was mad as hell. And it left me lost for words, because the writing was so powerful, yet so simple. Chayefsky's vocabulary was a marvel, as is evident from the number of quotable quotes the film contains.
No, I'm not here to elucidate Beale's breakdown. What I'm trying to do is comprehend the consequences the speech had on me as I look out of the window and see what Beale meant. We're living in a world that doesn't care about anything, that doesn't want to make this a better place. I often think : what must have Chayefsky thought when he created Howard Beale? Was Beale a gawk? Or was he always as deranged as we see in the movie? In one scene later on in the film, a newscaster labels Beale as a mad prophet. Well, one thing's for sure - the mad prophet says the most insightful things one could think of.
There's a lot to Network other than Peter Finch who plays Beale. But, you know, as an adherent of the movie, I always look forward to his scenes. There's a wonderful speech by Beale later on in the movie, and it's such a kick to see him ravage and rant. It's a fearless performance, one of the best and one of the most significant ones in history. He says he ran out of bullshit on live-television when he's fired from his job, a line's that as funny as it is true.
Over the years, people have bitched about the film being too self-assertive, too aware of its ambitions but its Finch who gives Network its pneuma. Funny how the great Sidney Lumet makes a synecdoche count in his movies. Beale is the soul of Network, Sonny Wortzik was Dog Day Afternoon's.
What stayed with me after my first viewing was the last line of the movie, the line which brought Chayefsky his Oscar and my favorite line from the movie, after Beale is shot dead on live-television - 'This was the story of Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings.' Is this what we'll eventually become? It's creepy to even think that we're heading in that direction. And that, my friends, is Chayefsky and Beale's victory, then and there.
So, yeah, I'm talking about Network. That beautiful, beautiful film Sidney Lumet crafted way back in 1976 from a deliciously candid script by Paddy Chayefsky that did most of the talking and using a bunch of actors that defined what acting was all about. Yes, that film. Now those of you who remember Network know which scene I'm wanting to talk about. One of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema, made sublime by a brilliant actor and a peerless screenwriter. And when Beale mouths off the magical words from the pen of Chayefsky, what revels is a sequence, a premonition really, that confounds us with its reasoning and its veracity.
Ironic though it is, it was also the first scene of the movie I had seen. I was skipping through the channels on television and I saw this great-looking movie on one of them. And before I could even find out the name of the film, Peter Finch howled why he was mad as hell. And it left me lost for words, because the writing was so powerful, yet so simple. Chayefsky's vocabulary was a marvel, as is evident from the number of quotable quotes the film contains.
No, I'm not here to elucidate Beale's breakdown. What I'm trying to do is comprehend the consequences the speech had on me as I look out of the window and see what Beale meant. We're living in a world that doesn't care about anything, that doesn't want to make this a better place. I often think : what must have Chayefsky thought when he created Howard Beale? Was Beale a gawk? Or was he always as deranged as we see in the movie? In one scene later on in the film, a newscaster labels Beale as a mad prophet. Well, one thing's for sure - the mad prophet says the most insightful things one could think of.
There's a lot to Network other than Peter Finch who plays Beale. But, you know, as an adherent of the movie, I always look forward to his scenes. There's a wonderful speech by Beale later on in the movie, and it's such a kick to see him ravage and rant. It's a fearless performance, one of the best and one of the most significant ones in history. He says he ran out of bullshit on live-television when he's fired from his job, a line's that as funny as it is true.
Over the years, people have bitched about the film being too self-assertive, too aware of its ambitions but its Finch who gives Network its pneuma. Funny how the great Sidney Lumet makes a synecdoche count in his movies. Beale is the soul of Network, Sonny Wortzik was Dog Day Afternoon's.
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