"I'm mad as hell & I'm not gunna take it any more!" -- the thread for Network

You read it then? I'm wondering about the context in which Chayefsky wrote it. Was it an old '50s guy pining for the supposed glory days of TV (even though news wasn't his department), or was it brought on by specific things happening at the time? I always thought TV news started to become more entertainment-driven a few years later than the film (and that great prescience is one of the things the film's admirers credit it with).

all time classic Hollywood photo

http://markdsikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/21-Faye-Dunaway-Morning-after-she-won-an-Oscar-1977.jpg

Awesome pic, love 70s Dunaway (Chinatown/ Condor/ Network/ Laura Mars).

I recently posted on the "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" thread, which made me think of Network-- and a pattern I noticed in Lumet's "breakup" scenes.

The breakup scenes in these two movies (among the most memorable in them) are all curiously unilateral/ monologic, which is part of their charge, their (mixed... good/ bad) power. (Side note: the scene between Finch and Beatty is also unilateral/ monologic in similar way, so maybe this pattern extends beyond "breakup" to broader confrontation scene.)

IN BTDYD, the great scene b/w Tomei & PSH-- she basically does all of the talking; he stands there silent, passive/ unresponsive, and that accounts for much of the awkwardness/ tragic yet mostly comedic effect of the scene.

The analogous scenes are two in Network: the Max/ Diana breakup scene which others have discussed above, but also the powerful scene between Max and his wife. In the latter, he (as it were) "breaks up" with her (tells her of his infidelity), but the heart of the scene is her impassioned rant to him, and the *strangeness* of that scene (which is also what makes it funny/ frustrating/ infuriating) is his silent, passive, reception of her poignant monologue ("I've got nothing to say"). The Max/ Diana breakup is also notable for the fact that Diana is so silent/ passive; Max has his monologue and Diana just receives it, only speaking up (faintly) afterward.

It's an interesting choice-- an un- or anti- catharctic choice in staging a breakup. The fact that one partner gets all of the say (as it were), and the other remains mostly silent, in a way makes the scene seem artificial but in another strangely powerful/ realistic. (On the one hand there's a "frustration" aspect, of there not being an adequate response; but there's also something satisfying about the fantasy of such a breakup, all depending on which position you imaginatively occupy.

Maybe this pattern could be extended further. E.g. in The Verdict (Newman slugs Rampling). In Dog Day Afternoon, poor Pacino character's girlfriend/ boyfriend isn't even willing to talk to to him on the cop-mediated phone.

In all cases, there's a kind of dramatic refusal/ failure/ frustration/ futility of communication, which maybe is true to (many of the) multifarious experiences of the "breakup."

finally watched this

i was fine with the absurd dialogue/monologues except for the one where duvall keeps going on about how he's fucked

holden looks about 15 years older than he actually was -- alas, booze -- making the affair even more ridiculous

anyway it were p. good

i def want to rewatch this soon. the Network anchor goes crazy on air and turns into Glen Beck and they give him his own show. at one point they are hiring a terrorist group to stage something for TV for the ratings. this came out 42 years ago? still way ahead of its time.

Basically the same reaction as eight years ago. The first half--up to and including Finch's big mad-as-hell tirade--is fine. The yelling and the speechifying after that is sometimes numbing.

But some of the speechifying seemed just awful to me, and there's so, so much of it. Especially Holden's long lecture to Dunaway as they break up

Yeah that’s the nadir of the movie for me.

Beatty’s speech is immortal though.

I had a hard time with that one too. I liked the idea of it--basically Eisenhower's military-industrial speech, or maybe Noam Chomsky--but not Beatty's cartoonish delivery.

"impugn his cockmanship" speech is when it really crosses the threshold

but i agree, it is mostly amazing, and the ending is great (the final shot of faye dunaway's character more than beale killing himself really)

"The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance!" pic.twitter.com/iqmKxHVVSr

— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) October 11, 2018

Despite having Bryan Cranston immediately in front of me, which was exciting, Broadway's NETWORK is an anemic take on the classic film.

— Dennis Perrin (@DennisThePerrin) May 16, 2019

Looks pretty dazzling, though, as Ivo Van Hove's shows do.

Rewatched. Yeah this film has major problems. It wants to be manic like an old Preston Sturges movie but it also wants to be serious and at least to feel "real." I see several of the actors - Dunaway and Duvall particularly - struggling with this indefinite tone. Dunaway is expected to be a cartoon in some moments and real in others. All the while the dialogue is far too grand for these characters.

Holden says to Dunaway when he's breaking up with her, "Everything you touch turns to shit" - and he's supposed to be the compassionate one, the guy with heart.

I think he said everything she touches dies.

You're probably right. Still, a massively condescending thing to say. Her character is obviously a piece of work, but in that scene he's a much worse person than her.