M*A*S*H (1970), Day of Wrath (1943)

M*A*S*H (1970)

This is the movie on which the iconic television series was based, and its self is an adaptation of a book. Growing up in the 1980's reruns of the show M*A*SH were everywhere and the series remains one of my earliest pop culture memories, and my dad was a huge fan. Owing to all the nostalgic, pop culture and sentimental baggage M*A*S*H has for me its a little hard to assess the film independently, you can't help but compare it to the series, and to a lesser extent Catch 22. First off the whole thing is better suited to a television show format rather then a movie one. The movie's just a bunch of stuff that happens to a group of doctors during a one year rotation in the Korean War. There's no beginning, middle or end really, at least not in the traditional sense. It's just a glimpse at these characters lives. Which isn't bad and the movie is actually fairly funny, but it just puts you in mind of the series, like your not enjoying it so much independently, but rather as curio associated with the TV Show. I recognize it must have been somewhat bold for its time, but I hesitate to say revolutionary, there are other films and books from its period that have a stronger claim on that designation. In the end I'll just say its Good, but better things were to come.

Day of Wrath (1943)

The most impressive thing about this film is probably that it was a movie about Witch hunts made in Nazi occupied Denmark. Having seen the film I don't know if I can really see a point by point comparison that can be made to Nazism in the plot, but you can't help but think there has got to be a veiled reference in there at least, or maybe that's just The Crucible talking (I understand director Dreyer had to flee the country shortly after this film was made, but so far I can't find anything to collaborate that on the Internet). Something that may also throw off giving a traditional Nazi metaphor reading to the film, is  the fact that witchcraft appears to be a real thing in this story, though mostly benign until agitated. There's really no good guy or bad guy in this, mostly people being petty in there own ways and to varying degree's. Witch's like Herlof's Marte and Anne can be vindictive when they feel cornered, but pastor Absalon Pedersson does both those characters wrong, even when trying to do right. Martin is too easily manipulated, though he does feel bad about it, while Meret isn't going to like Anne no matter what she does, even when she was just her sons seemingly loyal submissive wife. Dryers point seems to be that no one is really morally clean, no one is truly fit to cast the first stone (despite the moral denouncement ending). And perhaps that is all it would take to make this a movie of which the Nazi Party wouldn't approve. Great costums and unusual setting. Good