Special Sidney Lumet
The Outsider: The Films of Sidney Lumet

Network (1976)

Hoezo in KINO

“Hi. I’m Diana Christensen, a racist lackey of the imperialist ruling circles.” Network is unfortunately as relevant an indictment as it was 47 years ago. Lumet directed this film but it sure as hell is Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay telling us what’s on his cynical mind. The brilliant writer spent every day of the shoot on set, making sure his take on the degradation of the news media into cheap infotainment was committed to the screen as he envisioned it. Network is a mad and maddening circus of a film that lowers the viewer into the snake pit of journalists, broadcasters, news executives and ratings hungry CEOs who are all busy justifying their lack of a backbone to each other in brilliantly eloquent monologues, biting comebacks and drunken confessions. A must-see if there ever was one. English language without subtitles.

Credits

Regie
Sidney Lumet
Cast
Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall
Genre
Drama
Speelduur
122 minuten
Land
VS
Taal
English
Ondertiteling
Geen

Storyline

Director Sidney Lumet helmed this brilliantly vitriolic dissection of network television from Paddy Chayefsky’s Oscar-winning script. Peter Finch won a posthumous Oscar for Best Actor as Howard Beale, the fired news anchorman who goes mad on nationwide TV, threatening to kill himself on camera and utters the famous line: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” William Holden is equally impressive as Beale’s old friend and boss, head of network news Max Shumacher.

KINO is proud to present a retrospective on the features of writer and director Sidney Lumet. The versatile filmmaker worked mainly outside of the Hollywood machine but always secured the greatest talent in front of his camera as his reputation as an ‘actor’s director’ secured no less than seventeen Oscar nominations for his leads. His beloved New York City was often not only a geographical setting but a vital asset in his films as he explored the metropole from its classiest office buildings to its seediest back alleys. Unlike for instance Coppola or Scorsese, Lumet’s oeuvre is less distinctive in style as he always adapted his artistic choices to serve the story, not to his own visual preferences. But he is one of the great humanist directors with a fantastic catalogue waiting to be explored and we are proud to present his biggest hits as well as his lesser known films in this thirteen feature retrospective.

Trailer: Baris Azman