The greatest script ever written still resonates today with its incisive exploration of capitalism, mid-life crisis, depression and the impact of television.
Arguably, the best script ever written is one by Paddy Chayefsky for the movie Network. The movie deals with the negative effects of capitalism, divorce, mid-life crisis, depression and television. It is just as relevant now as it was when it came out in 1976 as we’ve all seen the effect of social media, reality TV and poorly researched or agenda-driven journalism in recent times.
Every performance in Network is pitch-perfect. The Oscars nominated just about everyone that’s in the movie. Three of them, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight won in their respective categories.
Robert Duvall (capitalism incarnate) is the new runner of a failing television network who is desperate to prove to his bosses that he can turn this sinking ship around. He is particularly gung ho on canning the News Department of the network which is losing money for them.
William Holden plays the news division president who has been tasked to fire his long-time colleague and friend Peter Finch, anchor of his show, due to declining ratings. Finch lost his wife, and so he turned towards alcoholism and depression. And so, getting fired is not news that he takes sitting down. Finch goes on air informing his audience that he’ll be leaving the show in 2 weeks and is planning to blow his brains out on his last show. This begins a circus fueled by regained popularity which turns him into a mad prophet who goes on TV and spews anti-establishment views spiked with the rage that every common man can relate to.
Faye Dunaway plays a programming chief who wants to bank on Finch’s climbing ratings by turning his news show into something far more sinister. Dunaway, in this movie, plays a soulless shark of the corporate world that is not confined by ideas like morality and journalistic responsibility. She has several fast-paced monologues which do a great job at showing her lack of character and feelings. I read somewhere that most psychopaths land high-paying corporate jobs. After seeing Dunaway, I believe it. Holden, who is going through a midlife crisis of his own, ends up being the chump that falls for her knowing all too well the devastation it would lead to.
Beatrice Straight and Ned Beatty each show up for one scene as Holden’s wife and the chairman of the parent company that owns the network respectively and slay their monologues with passion and intensity that make their performances unforgettable.
Directed by Sidney Lumet who keeps the camera muted in the room most of the time except when the tension heightens. For example, the iconic ‘mad as hell’ scene where the camera slowly inches towards Finch ends with a close-up that tells us so much about his character’s emotions through Finch’s eyes. The Lumet stamp is all over this film like many other classics he directed in the 70s.
The harsh realities of life are showcased with wit, dark humour and lastly, tragedy in a story that needs to be heard and a movie that deserves to be seen by every modern-day viewer of cinema that appreciates the quality of a well-told story.