M*A*S*H-the theatrical version

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2009)

The long-running television series is so deeply imbedded in the public imagination that the true nature of Robert Altman's anarchic film has been largely forgotten. Younger viewers who have not seen it and expect a longer version of the sitcom are going to be shocked,because in these more politically sensitive times,"M*A*S*H" could not be made. Think about it. What studio executive would give the green light to a film with a black character named "Spearchucker",a priest named "Dago Red",and a dentist who attempts suicide because he thinks that he's becoming "a fairy"? Seen with some historical context,Altman's scathing anti-establishment comedy is far from perfect,but the best moments are riotously funny(for all the wrong reasons)and the film expresses the rebellious mood of America in 1970 with absolute accuracy. It manages to do that without ever commenting directly on the war. Though the setting is 1950's Korea,it really 1970's Vietnam. The only time Altman and writer Ring Lardner come close to making an overt political statement is in their funniest one liner. When by-the-book Major Margaret Houlihan(Sally Kellerman)says of Dr.Hawkeye Pierce(Donald Sutherland),"I wonder how a degenerated person like that could have reached a position of responsibility in the Army Medical Corps?" "He was drafted," is the deadpan answer. In 1970,the line had audiences howling with laughter.
War itself is really not a subject. The only gunshot in the film is used to end the climactic football game. The nameless broken bodies that are flown into the hospital are the only evidence of the conflict. Altman shows war's destructiveness in those graphic wounds and bloody operating rooms. Those moments had never been presented so realistically on screen. Audiences who went to see this film in 1970 were horrified,and so any further comment would have been irrelevant. Altman's real targets are closer to home-organized religion and the military,both seen by the filmmakers as close minded institutions,inimical to genuine human values. They're personified in the characters of Maj. Houlihan and Maj. Frank Burns(Robert Duvall),both far removed from their TV incarnations(the television characters were portrayed by Loretta Swit and Larry Linville).
As interpreted by Duvall,Burns is a more serious and sinister figure. He is such a forceful character that he would upset the shaky comic balance of the film if he didn't make such an early exit. "Hotlips" Houlihan is more troubling. She is transformed presumably by the embarrassment of the shower scene,from a competent if narrow minded nurse into a brainless cheerleader. The change may be due to over-enthusiasm improvisation on Sally Kellerman's part during the football sequence. The protagonists are stronger characters,too. In the operating room,they're accomplished professionals. Outside,they're lecherous sophomoric pranksters with a wide mean streak. Altman's direction is completely true with the doctors' knockabout attitude. He uses filters to give a rougher texture to the already rough surfaces of the M*A*S*H unit;long lenses allow him to keep the camera at a distance to encourage ensemble improvisation;dialogue from one scene extended to the next;semi linear narrative.
And within that often chaotic structure,the big scenes are masterful-the unforgettable microphone under the bed,the extended "suicide" sequence,complete with the Last Supper tableau,the use of the public address system as a cracked Greek chorus,even the nonsensical football game. If,in hindsight,M*A*S*H seems harsher than it once did,but in all aspects it is still funny and original,and it anger is not misplaced.