MASH (1970): The Birth of Altmanesque Chaos
1970 • Robert Altman • 2.35:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓
Set during the Korean War but released at the height of the Vietnam War, Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H has become one of the classic satires of American cinema. It is also one of the most unconventional movies of its time. It’s an episodic film about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit whose surgeons cope with war through irreverence, pranks, and dark humor.
Emerging during the rise of New Hollywood, it bears the hallmarks of Altman’s style. The overlapping dialogue creates a semi-documentary sense of lived-in chaos. Something that is amplified by the frequent use of zoom lenses rather than classical dolly movement and the observational framing rather than traditional shot-reverse-shot.
M*A*S*H is certainly a muddy-looking film that takes us far from the conflict, but still finds a way to use graphic surgical imagery with absurdist humor to denounce the armed conflict. By portraying the military hierarchy as incompetent and the surgeons as brilliant but insubordinate rebels, Altman delivered a scathing critique of authority. It remains a raw, biting draft for his later masterpieces like McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Nashville.
Technical Specs:
- The Story: During the Korean War, a team of Army surgeons uses humor, mischief, and irreverence to cope with the horrors of battlefield medicine.
- Actors: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger Bowen, René Auberjonois, Michael Murphy.
- Director: Robert Altman
- Year: 1970
- Cinematographer: Harold E. Stine
- Origin: American Cinema
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Genre: War Films / Comedy & Satire
