Director
Robert Altman
Leading Actors/Actresses
Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall
Genre
Comedy, Drama, War
Language
English
Awards
Won Oscar for Best Writing-Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Date of Release
1970
Producer
Ingo Preminger
Setting and Context
MASH unit in Korea during Korean War
Narrator and Point of View
POV of Hawkeye
Tone and Mood
Comedic and Dramatic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists are Hawkeye and Trapper. Antagonist is Major Burns.
Major Conflict
Hawkeye and Trapper have differing belief systems than Burns and oppose his way of operating.
Climax
Burns is taken off in a straight jacket after attacking Hawkeye and the base is left to the new surgeons to be the leaders rather than the Major.
Foreshadowing
The opening shot of a bloodied soldier on a helicopter foreshadows the bloody war that these men and women will have to face on a day to day basis.
Understatement
Duke's racism is understated.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film is an allusion to the casual nature of certain enlisted men in war, and the incompetence of the officers commanding them.
Paradox
The Lt. Col. runs MASH but paradoxically has no idea what is happening under his watch.
Parallelism
Duke calls Hawkeye his driver at the beginning of the film and we again see this same action paralleled at the end of the film when Duke does the same as the film ends.
