This is another favorite of mine which I decided was time to revisit.  More beautiful cinematography is hard to find.  I could watch this movie over and over again with no sound and still enjoy the breathtaking camera work. 

Of course, with the sound on, its even better - telling the story of a Japanese-American accused of murdering a fellow fisherman - a white man and a childhood friend of the accused - in a small town in the Pacific Northwest shortly after World War II.  It touches on forbidden love, accutely unjust predjudice, and a newspaperman's journey to resolving his conflict between these two themes.  Ethan Hawke as the newspaperman, and Max Von Sydow as the defense attorney turn in great performances, but so does just about everyone else in the film. 

It took a while to get into this movie.  It starts fairly slow and at first its a bit confusing trying to figure out who the various characters are and the relationships between them.  The opening scene totally baffled me until I got to the end of the movie.  Some better editing probably could have cleared this up and shortened the movie by a fair amount. 

That being said, I cannot overstate how great this movie is.  The basic story is a fairly simple tale of two men vying for the prize of one woman, murder, revenge, and truth.  The authenticity of the story shines through and the - at first disconcerting - digital video cinematography reinforces this.

At 161 minutes, this is not a movie for the impatient, but in the end I'm glad I stuck it out.

You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here, you're beginning to believe that the tube is reality and your own lives are unreal! You do! Why, whatever the tube tells you: you dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube! This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion!

This is one of my favorites, and its been a few years since I'd seen it.  I figured it was time to see it again.  Howard Beale, an aging news anchorman for a third rate network, having been told he is going to be replaced decides to do something his co-workers see as crazy.  As Beale puts it: "Yesterday I announced on this program that I was going to commit public suicide. Admittedly an act of madness. Well, I'll tell you what happened: I just ran out of bullshit." 

Beale becomes a "counter-culture" prophet, sold by the network, and molded by its corporate interests.  The story continues to tell the - by now familiar - tale of the inherent conflicts of interest in Big Media.  Except this movie was made in 1976 and the stories told in a way few others have.  If you haven't seen it, you need to.