Paddy Chayefsky's brilliant satire offers a no-holds barred look behind the scenes at the unscrupulous goings on at a low rated teevee network that will plumb any low for ratings-even murder.
Peter Finch stars as Anchor/mad-man Howard Beale, whose on-air rants,"decrying the hypocrisies of our times", cause a sensation.
His marvelously scripted (and delivered) speeches are sardonically funny, yet depressingly true:"Bullsh*t is all the reasons we give for living," he tells us," and if we can't think up any of our own, we always have the God bullshit. We don't know why we go through all this pain, humiliation, and decay so there better be someone somewhere who DOES know! THAT'S THE GOD BULLSH*T!" And of course everyone knows his most famous one that's featured in every movie montage ever shown, as another reviewer has stated. That allowing the rants to air uncensored goes against the FCC, and Standards and Practices is not important to the network; millions of people are tuning in, fascinated by this "Mad Prophet of the Airwaves" as he's later dubbed, and that means big business.
The late, great William Holden (Sunset Blvd) stars as Max Schumacher(unfortunate that his character shares his name with the man who ruined the Batman franchise given that his is the only really likable character in the movie, but what are you gonna do?), Howard Beale's long time friend, and boss. Little by little, his influence is diminished when a conglomorate named CCA takes over the news division, and slowly the evening news is converted into a literal showcase for gossips, and soothsayers. "Television is show biz, Max, and even the news has a little showmanship" says exec Diana Christensen(played wonderfully by the gorgeous Faye Dunaway)an irresistably cynical career climber who lusts after ratings with an unnatural, cold blooded zeal. The only joy in her life she tells Max(with whom she begins an adulterous affair) is her work. "I'm inept at everything else".
See this movie. It has more relevance now, than ever before, and the end-***SPOILER***
is gleefully, and purposefully unsatisfying. No, the bad guys don't get caught, and yes, the voice of the masses will inevitably be oppressed. After Hoffa, and the Martin Luther King assassination can anybody argue that that's what life is really like?
Peter Finch stars as Anchor/mad-man Howard Beale, whose on-air rants,"decrying the hypocrisies of our times", cause a sensation.
His marvelously scripted (and delivered) speeches are sardonically funny, yet depressingly true:"Bullsh*t is all the reasons we give for living," he tells us," and if we can't think up any of our own, we always have the God bullshit. We don't know why we go through all this pain, humiliation, and decay so there better be someone somewhere who DOES know! THAT'S THE GOD BULLSH*T!" And of course everyone knows his most famous one that's featured in every movie montage ever shown, as another reviewer has stated. That allowing the rants to air uncensored goes against the FCC, and Standards and Practices is not important to the network; millions of people are tuning in, fascinated by this "Mad Prophet of the Airwaves" as he's later dubbed, and that means big business.
The late, great William Holden (Sunset Blvd) stars as Max Schumacher(unfortunate that his character shares his name with the man who ruined the Batman franchise given that his is the only really likable character in the movie, but what are you gonna do?), Howard Beale's long time friend, and boss. Little by little, his influence is diminished when a conglomorate named CCA takes over the news division, and slowly the evening news is converted into a literal showcase for gossips, and soothsayers. "Television is show biz, Max, and even the news has a little showmanship" says exec Diana Christensen(played wonderfully by the gorgeous Faye Dunaway)an irresistably cynical career climber who lusts after ratings with an unnatural, cold blooded zeal. The only joy in her life she tells Max(with whom she begins an adulterous affair) is her work. "I'm inept at everything else".
See this movie. It has more relevance now, than ever before, and the end-***SPOILER***
is gleefully, and purposefully unsatisfying. No, the bad guys don't get caught, and yes, the voice of the masses will inevitably be oppressed. After Hoffa, and the Martin Luther King assassination can anybody argue that that's what life is really like?