network

sydney lumet's 1976 film parodying the TV industry that makes everything a spectacle, makes mainstream out of every radical thing. some lines that hit right at the core:

Arthur Jensen: You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it. Is that clear? You think you've merely stopped a business deal? That is not the case. 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. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.
Arthur Jensen: The world is a business, Mr. Beale; it has been since man crawled out of the slime. Our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality - one vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock - all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel.
Howard Beale: Why me?
Arthur Jensen: Because you're on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday.
Howard Beale: I have seen the face of God.
Arthur Jensen: You just might be right, Mr. Beale.

Diana Christensen: Look, I sent you all a concept analysis report yesterday. Did any of you read it?
[Aides stare blankly at her]
Diana Christensen: Well, in a nutshell, it said: "The American people are turning sullen. They've been clobbered on all sides by Vietnam, Watergate, the inflation, the depression; they've turned off, shot up, and they've fucked themselves limp, and nothing helps." So, this concept analysis report concludes, "The American people want somebody to articulate their rage for them." I've been telling you people since I took this job six months ago that I want angry shows. I don't want conventional programming on this network. I want counterculture, I want anti-establishment. I don't want to play butch boss with you people, but when I took over this department, it had the worst programming record in television history. This network hasn't one show in the top twenty. This network is an industry joke, and we'd better start putting together one winner for next September. I want a show developed based on the activities of a terrorist group, "Joseph Stalin and His Merry Band of Bolsheviks," I want ideas from you people. This is what you're paid for. And by the way, the next time I send an audience research report around, you'd all better read it, or I'll sack the fucking lot of you. Is that clear?

the war game

peter watkins' 1965 film that was censored in UK because it was too terrifying. the film portrays what would happen if UK was hit by a nuclear weapon, based on what happened in Hiroshima and bombings in Germany and scientific experiments. one of the greatest anti-war films i have seen. i think i should show this alongside Dr.Strangelove to emphasize the ending of Dr.Strangelove.

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barbet schroder's 1971 film about the evils of heroin. set in france and ibiza to a mesmerizing pink floyd soundtrack the film was basically beautiful. this director is very interesting he has directed some very awful films in 90s yet recently he has directed terror's advocate portraying the life of the the lawyer who defended djamila of the FLN and then ended up getting connected to the international terror-profit network. very interesting.

two-lane blacktop

monte hellman's 1971 film about car racers, it was an interesting film for me because i was not really aware of this counter culture car racing practices. the characters were extremely cool.

punishment park

peter watkins' incredibly strong portrayal about system's way of dealing with dissent. i rest my case: the world is not progressing, in fact it's becoming more reactionary. if he had done this film now and not in 1968, he would get into serious trouble.

read my lips

audiard's film. it's always great to watch vincent cassel on screen, yet this film was not as good as the beat my heart skipped. probably because it was poking its point directly in your eye. self-confidence lacking woman, opportunist tough male, starts out as a fassbinder model, but then LOVE and reconciliation??

tout va bien!

unlike watkins who proves that marxist directors' films need not be boring, godard once again bores me to death. the only reason i wanted to watch this in the first place was jane fonda. godard is arrogant, didactic and annoying. i don't think i would want to see letter to jane at all.

Edvard Munch

The film is shot like a documentary about this great painter's life. But the director's marxist vision makes the film so special. By his montage we see the layers of this individual artist's life: historical and social context, general art history, european history of the early 20th century, his personal history all enmeshed together. The film is very exciting runs smoothly however is 220 mins long. Never before in my life I did not get bored with such a long film. I'm hooked on to Watkins now.

general idi amin dada: a self-portrait

barbet schroder's 1974 documentary about of one of the most peculiar dictators of the 20th century. it was a great documentary not only because of the character it portrays but because of the technique that presents a critical objectivity.

symbiopsychotaxiplasm

william greaves' 1968 film is basically about the nature of the art of film however the main theme is the relations of power. it might be one of the cleverest films i have ever seen in my whole life.