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M*A*S*H (1970)
🕑 Added 2025-07-25 12:00:17 +0000 UTCThe AFI list continues to surprise with its diverse range of films. Today is #54 M*A*S*H (1970)
*******spoilers below*********
I don't know what to say! This movie had me laughing and cringing simultaneously. I think that's perhaps the point. It felt like a rollercoaster. One sec you’re cackling at Hawkeye and Trapper pulling a prank, the next you’re wincing at the blood in the OR (That never got old for me). Maybe that’s Altman’s genius? He makes you feel the absurdity of war while keeping it funny. How is he able to blend it so effortlessly? I will say, even though I feel some things may have been lost on me, I had some really good laughs and loved many of the comedic beats in this. The Golf Trip to Japan sequence is wild. The same goes for the football game; those shots are so perfectly timed, it’s like a slapstick masterpiece. The timing of the shots just cracked me up.
Another bold film from Robert Altman. Dude’s got a vision... some have told me, it's a little more digestible than Nashville for sure, but he definitely has a style. Finger prints all over his movies; overlapping dialogue, zoomed-in shots, and a vibe that’s both chaotic and controlled. And he doesn't care if you are ready for it... I felt like a fish out of water for most of it! What a mind he has, though. I think he must have inspired some people who followed him, and I like how he pushes the limits. This must have been wild to see in 1970! I do love the ensemble cast, and the social commentary, whatever I got from it.
Let me know your thoughts down below!!
xx
Enjoy,
Ames
Comments
Kinokind
Ames, you understood the film exactly, when you said: "What's the fucking point? What is the point?" The film is about the madness of war and ordinary people trying desperately to remain sane within it. What would you do if there was a virtual conveyor bring maimed and dying boys to you every day, and it was your job to try to save them? Despite Hooker's book being about Korea, this film was made during Vietnam, and relied on the preface to claim that it was about Korea (a move that was made to mollify the studio). Except for the set decoration, this could be about any modern war. I was a kid, but I remember Vietnam. It was a different world then. Your neighbor's son had been drafted, and everyone was praying he'd come back. Some didn't, and those who did were often never the same. The newspapers had casualty reports every day and pictures of bodies on the front page. They didn't worry about offending people then. Perhaps that's why the protests grew so large. In the film, Great pains were taken to make the operating room scenes as accurate as possible, and there are reminders that death is imminent throughout. This is the first time I ever notice that during their last poker game, in the background we see a jeep passing with a sheet-wrapped body in the back. That's why their behavior is excusable. Necessary, even. Because without it, they'd all crack. I remember seeing this on a rerelease in the theater. The main thing I'll never forget is my friend, Dave, grabbing my arm, pointing at the screen, and saying "Look!" at Altman's version of the Last Supper. And that's when I thought, "this guy's a genius". (also, Nashville). Finally, some years ago my sister was studying at the University of Michigan, and I went up to visit her in her swanky girl's dorm. It was actually a beautiful old building designed, presumably, for the future brides of law students, with oak panelling and chandeliers. You had to check in at the reception desk, which was usually no problem, but on this day there was slight chaos. The area was busy, with people milling about and various C-stands, road cases, lights and the trappings of film production. And Robert Altman. He was a visiting scholar teaching a master class in film production, and they were using one of the paneled rooms as Richard Nixon's office for the student film. This was after MASH and Nashville, so he was, by this time, THE Robert Altman and I recognized him - not ten feet from me. There is no punchline to this story, and I've never seen the Nixon film, but I'll never forget seeing Altman there.
SteveW
Though I have watched the entire TV series twice, I feel like the first five seasons are really the best, and keep the feel of the movie better. From season six onward, the show just got too dramatic for my taste. That said, your reaction has me looking forward to watching the first five seasons of M*A*S*H* again. :)
