Captain Yossarian

Rating: 10/10 (27 September 2010)

Captain Yossarian is a bombardier stationed in Italy. The captain is a very unhappy man. He does not want to fly missions anymore. Yossarian is quite outspoken about the number of missions required, and He speaks to several people about his problem, including a doctor and a chaplain. The doctor tells Yossarian early out that Yossarian is a victim of catch 22. Basically, catch 22 means you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. It does not matter what you do to remedy a situation, the situation remains the same. Catch 22 received no awards, and the reason this is so is because of its treatment of World War II. That is my opinion. I read the very nice and well-written biography of Alan Arkin on this website, and in I read that the Mike Nichols film was not well-received. The movie was in the theaters in 1970.
Possibly the most unsavory character in the movie is Milo. Milo is fundamentally a Fascist. After all, the Lieutenant begins making deals with the Germans and evolves into a turncoat. Billed as a comedy, Catch 22 goes through a definite change of tone in the course of the story. After the highly satirical air raid, which is in no sense a drill, the film begins to take on dark overtones. The movie becomes serious, but then aseptically humorous when Yossarian meets with the Major and Lt. Colonel after a problem in town.
Besides his aversion to going on the countless bombing missions, a possibly brighter side to his personality is Yossarian's interest in women. One of his better choices is a beautiful Italian who the captain sees walking by a cafÃ© in the town where the squadron is stationed. The classical piece "Thus Spake Zarathustra"(which is also a novel) plays as Luciana walks Capt. Yossarian. Although she is not a very important character, the two have a funny conversation about bombing fish. In a movie such as Catch 22, where so many things happen, there are large gaping holes, or would be, if one minimizes any character that has more than one scene. Everyone is involved in the movie, and taking one character out is like moving a domino.
Martin Sheen of "Apocalypse Now" acts in Catch 22, and Art Garfunkel, and Anthony Perkins from the thriller Psycho. Bob Newhart is Major Major Major and the Lieutenant Colonel is played by Buck Henry. The unsavory Milo is played by Jon Voight and Walk Of Fame actor Orson Welles is the Colonel who decorates Captain Yossarian for the successful fish-bombing mission.