War
is hellishly funny!
There is a
phrase in Roger Ebert's review of Robert
Altman's 1970 film "MASH" that sums up, for me,
the essence of why the film continues to appeal
to audiences thirty-five years after its
release. Ebert referred to the film's actions,
especially between characters, as
"metaphysically cruel."
Living as they must in the midst of the Korean
War, the characters of "MASH" become characters
with whom we can identify, possibly even bond,
because their methods of coping are authentic,
their relationships are grounded upon both their
need for connection and their astute awareness
that any one of them may not come out of this
thing alive.
It is almost impossible to not laugh during
"MASH" because these people become mirrors of
who all of us are. They reflect our wants,
needs, desires, fears, paranoias, rages and
tears. Even in the middle of a war zone, these
characters behave the way that many of us want
to in our schools and our workplaces and our
organizations and, yes, even our families.
The way that Hawkeye (Elliott Gould) and Pierce
(Donald Sutherland) taunt and torture Hoolihan
(Sally Kellerman) is purposeful, downright cruel
at times, yet it is also a way of coping, a way
of humanizing a situation and a professional
peer who has lost touch with her humanity. As
intentional as their actions are, Gould and
Sutherland are so low-key in their presentations
that their actions blend perfectly with their
daily lives. Thus, these comic scenes don't
appear as if they are done for laughs. Instead,
we laugh out of the situation, out of
familiarity, or simply out of how normal it all
seems.
The same is true in their interactions with
Major Burns (Robert Duvall), and their
oft-conflict ridden relationship. We laugh
because it reminds us of our own conflicts, and
the three play these situations so normally that
we end up watching them taunt each other and we
wish it could be us.
The entire cast has clearly bought into Altman's
"everyday" vision for this film, and there's not
a weak performance in the bunch, including Gary
Burghoff as Radar, Rene Auberjonois as Father
Mulcahy and Fred Williamson as Spearchucker.
To truly look at the film is to realize that the
script, by Ring Lardner, Jr., is actually quite
bland and sparse in dialogue and conflict.
Realizing this, simply reinforces the brilliance
of director Robert Altman's vision and the
ability of his cast to pull of the vision in
their performances.
"MASH" isn't so much a war film, though an
argument could surely be made for it being an
anti-war film. Instead, however, "MASH" is about
those individuals who live in the war zone by
choice or by necessity. It's about how they
survive and how they, ultimately, reflect each
one of us.
There are certain films that are what I refer to
as comfortable films. They are the films that I
can watch no matter the place I am at in my
life. I can watch them happy or sad or angry or
confused. I can watch them when I feel
successful or when I feel a complete failure.
They are the films that become interwoven into
the fabric of my life and I turn to them often
as a place of peace.
"MASH," with all its humor and lunacy and
revenge and cruelty, is one of my comfortable
films because it reminds me in the most subtle
of ways that when I am in the midst of the
battle there is always a way to survive.
©
Written by Richard
Propes
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
