Hello, all! Today, we turn our attention to films about “The Forgotten War” in Korea with a film that manages both to be a “standard” as well as unorthodox… not to the extent of a film like CATCH-22, but still. If a movie manages to become a fixture on the idiot box – almost a pop culture phenomenon, really – it deserves to be on this list, and that is absolutely the case with the film that taught us that “suicide is painless,” MASH. The trailer for the film is embedded below:
Unlike CATCH-22, MASH manages to tread into black comedy territory without being weird, and with a pretty dang great cast that includes Donald Sutherland [who plays “Hawkeye” Pierce], Elliott Gould [playing “Trapper John” McIntyre], Robert Duvall [portraying Major Burns], and Sally Kellerman [playing “Hot Lips” O’Houlihan]. Much as the on-screen chemistry between the lead actors helps to carry the film, I have to confess that I prefer the TV series’ version… but the TV series did have the advantage of being shown for over a decade rather than just a couple of hours, as is the case with the movie.
It’s nice to see those in the O grades duking it out with one another, and the film doesn’t waste a lot of time pitting the straight-laced Major Burns against the duo of Pierce and McIntyre. For whatever reason, that dynamic always reminds me of the Winger and Ziskey versus Captain Stillman paradigm featured in the movie STRIPES, released about a decade after MASH. At any rate, the film follows Pierce and McIntyre as they continue to screwball their way through life within Medevac distance from the front, one operation or scheme at a time. Probably the most notable of these schemes involves the most direct reference to Loudon Wainwright III’s memorable theme song, with “Painless” Waldowski, the “Don Juan dentist” that folks apparently have to watch showering just to see his Milton Berle-grade naughty bits. After becoming so depressed over an experience with impotence, he wants to kill himself… but is instead able to cure all his ills with an encounter of bang bang shaboogie proportions with Lieutenant “Dish” before she rotates back to the world. It’s a little bit goofy, of course, but the whole film carries itself with tongue planted firmly in cheek, so it somehow works.
Black comedies like this one and BARTON FINK [a classic from the Coen Brothers] almost necessarily create a slightly unrealistic world that exists just beyond the reach of the mundane, “real” world. It’s pretty easy to accomplish this when using the curious model of military life as the context in which the story is grounded; but, in the case of MASH, it’s necessary to view the film as a product of, perhaps even a mirror to, the times in which it was made. While they both were awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, I’d have to say that BARTON FINK has aged a whole lot better than MASH, in part because of the fact of its being so clearly anchored to the values and mores of the time in which it was released, but mostly because of how successful and enduring the TV show it spawned was.
You’ve probably heard, and perhaps even have said, “They couldn’t make that [movie/TV show] today.” With MASH, they may well be right. The same is true of “All in the Family” and others of its ilk. If you can somehow purge whatever influence contemporary culture has on your thought processes, you may well find yourself appreciating this one a lot more than you otherwise would have. If not, it may simply be a good, albeit dated, film about officious and inept surgeons versus those who are insubordinate and undisciplined. Regardless of the way cultural mores might inform your viewing of the film, it’s worth checking out because of the solid cast and the chemistry they establish on-screen. Enjoy!
AND, AS AN ADDED BONUS:
[Since it's so on-point, and (mostly) tonally consistent, I thought it was worth sharing this nifty clip from Conan O'Brien's show.]
[Edit: I forgot to include the other films recommended list when I first posted this; it's now attached below.]
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director's Cut); Day 2 - GLADIATOR; Day 3 - TROY; Day 4 - SPARTACUS; Day 5 - BRAVEHEART; Day 6 - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD; Day 7 - GLORY; Day 8 - GODS AND GENERALS; Day 9 - GONE WITH THE WIND; Day 10 - CAPITAINE CONAN; Day 11 - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT; Day 12 - GALLIPOLI; Day 13 - PATHS OF GLORY; Day 14 - SERGEANT YORK; Day 15 - DAS BOOT; Day 16 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; Day 17 - PATTON; Day 18 - CROSS OF IRON; Day 19 - SCHINDLER'S LIST; Day 20 - FURY]
Unlike CATCH-22, MASH manages to tread into black comedy territory without being weird, and with a pretty dang great cast that includes Donald Sutherland [who plays “Hawkeye” Pierce], Elliott Gould [playing “Trapper John” McIntyre], Robert Duvall [portraying Major Burns], and Sally Kellerman [playing “Hot Lips” O’Houlihan]. Much as the on-screen chemistry between the lead actors helps to carry the film, I have to confess that I prefer the TV series’ version… but the TV series did have the advantage of being shown for over a decade rather than just a couple of hours, as is the case with the movie.
It’s nice to see those in the O grades duking it out with one another, and the film doesn’t waste a lot of time pitting the straight-laced Major Burns against the duo of Pierce and McIntyre. For whatever reason, that dynamic always reminds me of the Winger and Ziskey versus Captain Stillman paradigm featured in the movie STRIPES, released about a decade after MASH. At any rate, the film follows Pierce and McIntyre as they continue to screwball their way through life within Medevac distance from the front, one operation or scheme at a time. Probably the most notable of these schemes involves the most direct reference to Loudon Wainwright III’s memorable theme song, with “Painless” Waldowski, the “Don Juan dentist” that folks apparently have to watch showering just to see his Milton Berle-grade naughty bits. After becoming so depressed over an experience with impotence, he wants to kill himself… but is instead able to cure all his ills with an encounter of bang bang shaboogie proportions with Lieutenant “Dish” before she rotates back to the world. It’s a little bit goofy, of course, but the whole film carries itself with tongue planted firmly in cheek, so it somehow works.
Black comedies like this one and BARTON FINK [a classic from the Coen Brothers] almost necessarily create a slightly unrealistic world that exists just beyond the reach of the mundane, “real” world. It’s pretty easy to accomplish this when using the curious model of military life as the context in which the story is grounded; but, in the case of MASH, it’s necessary to view the film as a product of, perhaps even a mirror to, the times in which it was made. While they both were awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, I’d have to say that BARTON FINK has aged a whole lot better than MASH, in part because of the fact of its being so clearly anchored to the values and mores of the time in which it was released, but mostly because of how successful and enduring the TV show it spawned was.
You’ve probably heard, and perhaps even have said, “They couldn’t make that [movie/TV show] today.” With MASH, they may well be right. The same is true of “All in the Family” and others of its ilk. If you can somehow purge whatever influence contemporary culture has on your thought processes, you may well find yourself appreciating this one a lot more than you otherwise would have. If not, it may simply be a good, albeit dated, film about officious and inept surgeons versus those who are insubordinate and undisciplined. Regardless of the way cultural mores might inform your viewing of the film, it’s worth checking out because of the solid cast and the chemistry they establish on-screen. Enjoy!
AND, AS AN ADDED BONUS:
[Since it's so on-point, and (mostly) tonally consistent, I thought it was worth sharing this nifty clip from Conan O'Brien's show.]
[Edit: I forgot to include the other films recommended list when I first posted this; it's now attached below.]
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director's Cut); Day 2 - GLADIATOR; Day 3 - TROY; Day 4 - SPARTACUS; Day 5 - BRAVEHEART; Day 6 - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD; Day 7 - GLORY; Day 8 - GODS AND GENERALS; Day 9 - GONE WITH THE WIND; Day 10 - CAPITAINE CONAN; Day 11 - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT; Day 12 - GALLIPOLI; Day 13 - PATHS OF GLORY; Day 14 - SERGEANT YORK; Day 15 - DAS BOOT; Day 16 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; Day 17 - PATTON; Day 18 - CROSS OF IRON; Day 19 - SCHINDLER'S LIST; Day 20 - FURY]
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