You're a prisoner of war, you just don't know it.

Rating: 9/10 (24 June 2010)

MASH is a masterpiece, plain and simple for at least two reasons. First of all, it defies nearly every cliché and conventional method of portraying war and suffering on the screen. These surgeons being surveyed here (Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre), are so radical and unrestrained in their behavior that the film practically questions whether or not we should root for them. Yet, we do, mostly due to the charismatic and likable performances by Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould, respectively and the style of Robert Altman's direction (more on that later).
Altman, who had previously worked mainly in television, came to the film with original ideas and outrageous methods of stylizing the material. In fact, the screenwriter became so outraged with the lack of dialog and story in his script being used in the film that he demanded his name be removed (he later won an Oscar). However, Altman stands alone as the creative force driving together all the tiny subplots and episodic happenings into a fabulously entertaining and subversive movie.
This leads to the second reason of why MASH is a masterpiece: it's hilarious. A film like this we don't expect to be anywhere near as funny or engaging as Altman made this one to be. Yet, it is only the politically-incorrect humor that maintains our interest and emotional pull. We cannot believe the horrors of this war, thus we laugh to remain sane and remind ourselves of our humanity. The characters do the same.
This intimate connection with the group of officers, surgeons and nurses along with Altman's inventive way of constant zooms and camera movement put us right in the midst of the 4077th MASH unit. And it all comes down to the big game being played between the surgeons and the generals from a rival unit. Hilarity ensues, we laugh, question why we laugh and realize that war may be hell but suicide is painless. So is laughter.