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"That suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please."

With those sublimely dark and twisted words, sung in a ballad ever so sweetly, I was introduced to the world of MASH, a laugh out loud dark comedy satirizing war plus the politics and policies behind war.

As a child of the 1980s, I was of course aware of “M*A*S*H” the television series, despite the fact no on in my home ever watched it, as far as I can recall. It was just one of those shows everybody seemed to know. I have long been interested in giving it a go, and now after loving the film which inspired it, I am even more intrigued.

The film, directed by Robert Altman early in his career, is set during the Korean War in the early 1950s and centers around a group of surgeons, nurses, and other personnel at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH.

MASH begins with the arrival of two new surgeons to the unit, Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Captain Augustus "Duke" Forrest (Tom Skerritt). The two men have a lot in common - drinking, recklessness, disdain for authority, and a general boy's club mentality - and become fast friends. It's not long before they're joined by another wildcard - Captain John "Trapper John" McIntyre (Elliot Gould). The three men are definitely not standard issue Army, but they're wonderful surgeons and inspire most of the crew around them. Within a short time, they become the unofficial leaders of the camp, much to the chagrin of the straight laced Major Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and the chief nurse Major Margaret Houlihan (Sally Kellerman). Even the actual leader of the camp, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (Roger Bowen), mostly defers to the wild group of boys.

The supporting cast includes many memorable characters who complement the main group perfectly. Among them: Father Mulcahy (Rene Auberjonois), Captain Walter "Painless" Waldowski (John Schuck), Captain Oliver "Spearchucker" Jones (Fred Williamson), Captain Ezekiel "Me Lay" Marston (Michael Murphy), Ho-Jon (Kim Atwood), and Corporal "Radar" O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff).

The film isn't concerned with an overreaching plot like most are. Instead, Altman decided to structure the narrative as more of a series of vignettes - and it works very well. I think it helps to show how everyday life is in this particular and unorthodox unit. Most of the time, it's hilariously jovial with the guys ribbing each other back and forth, but other times it is painfully realistic and dramatic. I don't think anyone would ever classify MASH as a serious film, but there are undoubtedly serious moments contained within. Most of these moments occur inside the surgical tent as Hawkeye, Duke, and Trapper John tend to the wounded and dying men from the front lines. There are a couple moments of intense drama as the surgeons fight against the odds, with blood spurting and bones being sawed through.

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