If Irvin Kershner Says So...

Alice writes a critique on Sideways. Awesome. Alice has risen a few notches on in my accounting log book that I keep on everyone I know. No, seriously, she just went from a 7 to a 9, I'm adding two slashes right now.

A real screenwriter does a critique on each movie he/she sees, well, I try to do something like that, but I generally try to find something interesting to add, not just regurgitate the plot and tell whether I liked it. But in my crit studies class, we talk about art installations and describe three categories: Description, Interpretation, Evaluation. I think these categories might be useful for looking at movies.

MASH....

Description: A film about a medical unit in Korea (but it might as well be Vietnam). The basic story is that a couple of hard drinking, lady loving surgeons come into a medical unit near the front lines of the war. They do their jobs, but don't take anything too seriously, notably the operating scenes, in which they joke around and act in Altman's words, "as if they were fixing a car." They find friends in the ineffectual commanding officer of the unit, a 16 year old Korean kid, and another surgeon who joins the squad later (Elliot Gould). Their rivals are Robert Duvall and Hot Lips, two rigid souls, intent on following the rules of the army and rules of the bible. Their shenanigans drive Duvall crazy and get him thrown out of the unit. The war continues and their adventures get wilder and wilder as they capitalize on an opportunity to go to Japan, arrange a football game with big stakes, and assist a man to convince himself he's not a fairy.

Interpretation: A war film with a similar tone to Catch-22, an irreverent look at how characters deal with a horrific reality, finding joy in friendship and doing the big things right. Obviously, a film about the confusing reality of Vietnam, it was made in 1970, when the verdict on the war wasn't quite decided yet. In hindsight, people talk about how MASH is an anti-war movie. I don't know. To me, it's an anti-dumbshit movie, with a big heart. Some authority figures are insane and dickheads, but others are hilarious, like the commanding officers of the units and the general only interested in the big football game. To me, the film is about people finding joy in an obviously sad situation.

Evaluation: This is the first of Altman's films of the 1970s, within the next 5 years he made in addition to MASH, McCabe, The Long Goodbye, California Split, and Nashville. Phil would argue this is the greatest work by any director in the history of cinema in such a timespan. I like to play devil's advocate, but I'd be hard pressed to take up that debate. It's fucking great, I mean, from a directing standpoint, he's casting mostly unknown actors (at the time) from a theater company, having them improvise scenes, making this joyous wonderous film - starting off the best decade of American filmmaking (in my opinion) with a bang and changing the way America watches movies. He's a beast, no wonder PTA is following him around on set like a puppy dog.

UPDATE: Okay, so the point of doing this isn't to suck Altman's dick. I need to find something from a screenwriting perspective that didn't work for me....well, first, a disclaimer - a lot was improvised, so I'll say nothing of the dialog, but I'll talk about the story construction. I think the beginning is a little confusing to pull you into the world. Too many characters are thrown at you and at first it's difficult to keep track of everyone. After watching the film, I watched the the beginning of the commentary, and already I'm seeing things that 2nd time around right at the beginning which make more sense the second time around. I guess that's the potential drawback of an ensamble cast. I think the Duvall and Hot Lips characters are too over the top ridiculous, but it's a satire, so in some ways it works, it just makes it a little too easy to hate them.

There are a couple of structure things which Altman does really well, though, I think the little interludes of the loudspeakers and each little segment have a nice feel, a sequence (from screenwriting), feel natural and make sense with the characters and so despite the lack of a narrative thread, you stay engaged because there are "wants" within each sequence. Also, they end had a big effect on me, the way they get the news of going home and it's tremendously sad, but he handles it in a very matter of fact way, the way you would if you had to leave your friends.

But all of this is just talk for the sake of talk, but maybe it'll help me be a better writer.