“M★A★S★H Mash” Wars and armies are worthless! Unraveling the masterpieces of anti-war films created by master filmmakers

More radical, more black: Altman changed filmmaking

Altman never neglected Lardner's script. Above all, he was impressed by the detailed depiction of the surgery scenes. The protagonists joke around even during the operation, but the scene is bloody and there is even a scene where blood spurts out of the neck of an injured soldier. In a film with no battle scenes, the surgery scenes are the only visuals that directly convey the cruelty of war, and it is because of these that the film is an anti-war film. In fact, when the studio executives were shown a preview, they were told to cut these scenes, but Altman adamantly refused.

After filming, during the editing stage, Altman realized that the rhythm of the drama was not quite right. In this final stage, he added the sound of the medical camp's internal broadcasting system. The narration that could be taken as either serious or joking in a military facility, such as "peel off the nude photos on the wall," was added at this stage. At the same time, it played a major role in adding black humor to the film.

"M*A*S*H" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

"Mash," which lightly but scathingly declares, "No way, war is a pain," won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, with Lardner receiving the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Above all, the film, released in 1970, was enthusiastically received by the younger generation, earning box office revenues in the US more than 20 times its production costs. Riding on this boom, it was made into a TV series in 1972 and became a popular hit that continued to be made for over 10 years.

During the filming of this movie, there was an episode like this. On July 20, 1969, the manned Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Humanity had finally set foot on the moon, but filming of "MASH" was also taking place at that time, and the camera looking up at the camp's public address speaker clearly captured the moon in the night sky. Times have changed. Altman also certainly changed Hollywood's filmmaking at this time.

Text: Manabu Soma

After working as an information magazine editor, became a freelance writer. He writes articles and reviews for magazines such as ``SCREEN,'' ``DVD & Video Distribution,'' and ``Cinema Square,'' as well as theater pamphlets and the movie site ``Cinema Today.'' Currently appearing on Star Channel "GO! Theater". I host club events as a hobby.

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