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By
NICK ZEGARAC
The film which introduced us
to the now legendary imperative, "I'm as made as
hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore,"
Sidney Lumet's "Network" is a scathingly brilliant
and ominously accurate prediction of what network
television circa 2004 (in particular the news
division) has become.
When stalwart television news anchor Howard Beale
(Peter Finch) suffers an on air mental breakdown,
he is encouraged to continue ranting as "the angry
prophet, denouncing the hypocrisies of our time"
in order to boost the network's Nielson ratings.
Shifting the focus from hard news to factoid
entertainment, the new Howard Beale show is the
brainchild of Dianne Christensen (Faye Dunaway,
marvelously on point as the ambitious, neurotic
producer). Dianne is all oversexed cutthroat and
will stop at nothing to exploit Beale for a thirty
share rating. She usurps Max Schumacher's (William
Holden) position as head of the news division at
the station, and later destroys his life and
marriage with a torrid affair. The cast also
includes Robert Duvall as maniacal Frank Hackett,
a corporate executive whose sell-out mentality and
overriding greed are successful at turning the
once prominent art of journalism into its lowest
common denominator -- sensationalism. In an all
too brief though nevertheless poignant
performance, the late and very great Beatrice
Straight delivers a masterful performance as Max's
betrayed wife, Louise. The film's eerie
clairvoyance makes it one of the truly outstanding
American films of the 1970s.
However, Warner Home Video's import of a
previously released MGM DVD is one of the worst
DVD transfers I have ever seen. The film is
anamorphic widescreen but the colors are horribly
muted, dull and incredibly faded. Flesh tones are
so inaccurate that there's really no point in
suggesting any consistency. Either they are a
pasty pink or garish orange, but never natural
looking. Contrast levels during night scenes are
so low and marred by excessive film grain and
digital grit that fine detail is not even an
issue. Day scenes tend to suffer from over
exposure and excessively high contrast levels.
Light browns, oranges, beiges and flesh tones all
exhibit an undistinguished muddiness. There is
also an incredible amount of film and digital
grain throughout the transfer that makes for a
completely unsatisfying viewing experience, no
matter the size of your television screen. There
is nothing, I repeat -- nothing, to recommend this
visual presentation. The audio is mono, strident
and unnatural sounding. There is also background
hiss in many of the more quiet scenes. The only
extra is a theatrical trailer. This classic needs
a complete and meticulous restoration. |
