M*A*S*H by Mike Mitchell

Title/Year : M*A*S*H/1970
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Robert Altman/US/1925
Budget: $3.5 million
Gross: $81,600,000
Synopsis: Military surgeons play pranks and crack jokes constantly in order to preserve their sanity in the face of war.
Political/ Social Commentary: War is disgusting and horrifying and the only way you can deal with it without going nuts is to point and laugh.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Korea, military, humor, green, brown, medical cross, helicopter
Main Character/Arc: Captain Hawkeye Pierce/One of the primary shenaniganizers
Notable Collaboration: Altman cast so many unknowns in his film that the majority of the opening credits are "Introducing..."
Historical relevance/recognition: The film has won numerous awards, placed on top movie lists and even deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress.
Etc.: One of the first movies to be released on home video.

1. The soldiers are depicted as being pretty in control of their own destiny, at many times during the film a superior officer will shout that someone is under arrest and will be subject to court marshal but they are quickly shrugged off and told they aren't going to arrest anyone. When the prank on Major Houlihan is played she furiously threatens to resign her post as Chief Nurse to which the Colonel responds "so quit already!", and when Hawkeye and Trapper go to Kokura they are able to order pretty much everyone around, including the hospital's commander.

2. I think Robert Altman was going for the subtext of every war being essentially the same, meaning that there are no good wars, by intending the audience to mistake the setting for Vietnam. But then 20th Century Fox kind of ruined that by placing the setting firmly in Korea, not just by using "And then there was... Korea" in the opening title sequence but also by the numerous mentions of Seoul and Korea throughout the film, the biggest one being the loudspeaker that serves to bridge the gap between events.


3. The masculinity and patriarchy of the characters is displayed in their activities when not working on patients. Drinking, playing cards, sleeping with nurses, playing golf and setting up elaborate pranks. The sort of thing some people might consider "what men do". When they break up into smaller groups they are always sort of led by one or two outspoken males and if the group has any females in it they just sorta hang out.