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Network (1976) offers a satirical look at the corporate and media forces shaping modern life in the 1970s. Directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paddy Chayefsky, the film centers on veteran news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch), who spirals into public on-air breakdowns that transform him into a ratings sensation. Seeing an opportunity to exploit Beale’s instability, network executives push the anchor toward increasingly sensationalist programming in pursuit of profit and power. The film’s portrait of media spectacle, corporate control, and audience complicity remains remarkably prescient; its anxieties about television’s role in shaping public consciousness resonate powerfully in today’s digital era of intensified media conglomeration and political fragmentation. Widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s most significant critiques of mass media, Network won multiple Academy Awards and cemented Chayefsky’s reputation as one of the era’s boldest social commentators.
The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to present the new 4K restoration of Network for this 50th anniversary screening. Our screening will be accompanied by a critical and historical introduction by Jason Ludwig (Film and Media Studies, UCSB), who will discuss this film’s relationship to our yearlong programming series Connectivity.
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