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Originally Posted by Commentor on IMDB
Feb 3 2008
Sidema77, please read this review of the movie that I wrote for one of my classes a year back. Hopefully it will help you understand more about the movie and what the director was trying to do.
Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter is a three hour epic of a movie that can easily be broken down into three parts. It is the story of a group of friends who are shipped to Vietnam and have their lives changed forever in different ways. I wouldn’t go so far as calling this an anti-war film, and is by no means a pro-war film, but what it is, is one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made. The film begins as we are introduced to our three major characters, Michael,(Robert De Niro) Nick,(Christopher Walken) and Steve(John Savage) who are just finishing their shift at the steel mill in a small town in Pennsylvania. It is their last day of work before they are shipped off to Vietnam. The three then go to the local bar, have a few drinks and play pool before they attend Steve’s wedding.
The film takes it’s time with these opening scenes so we can step into the lives of these three hard working middle class men so we can feel for them for what happens to them later. There is some foreshadowing during the wedding reception and superstition for events to come as Steve and his new wife must drink from a special cup and are told, “If you don’t spill a drop, good luck will come to you for the rest of your lives.” The camera then focuses on a close up of the bride’s dress as we see a few drops land on her dress unnoticed. After the party, the friends minus Steve go up to the mountains to go deer hunting. In these scenes we are awarded with some of the best sceneries with excellent music as Michael moves himself away from the other hunters to go on his own and lands himself a deer. The deer is tied down to the hood of Michael’s car as the friends go back to town to the bar for a beer.
In the bar the camera slowly moves from close up shots of each of the friends as they watch and listen to one of them play the piano. As soon as he is done playing the piano, the film cuts right into Vietnam in the middle of action which is done perfectly. The quick cut from a group of friends drinking and having a good time to quickly cut to the war in Vietnam shows how fast things have changed; one minute your having a good time, and the next thing you know, your in a place you regret going to. We get a brief scene of the three main characters reuniting together after an attack on a Vietnamese village and what comes next is one of the most horrifying and best acted sequences in a film as the three or taken prisoner and forced to play Russian Roulette as their captors gamble on who, or who will not blow their brains out.
The game becomes a symbol to the film and that is that it touches the sanity of men forced to play it, and to the context of this story it makes a good ideological statement to the war it’s self. De Niro’s character Michael is the one to somehow find the strength to keep himself, Savage, and Walken going as he turns the tables around on their captors and escape. The three are then split up again as they try to climb up a later from a helicopter as they float on a log down a river. Michael returns home and is somewhat surrounded by silence as he is greeted back like a hero awkwardly by the townspeople. While on another hunting trip he realizes that he can now not shoot a deer. He now knows what it is like to be hunted and to have your innocence taken from you. Another important scene that occurred in Vietnam is that of Michael placing Steve who is wounded and out cold on the hood of a jeep so he can be taken to a hospital. Steve is placed on the hood of the jeep the same way the deer that Michael shot was tied down to the hood of his car. Michael learns that Steve is back in town at a VA hospital, and when he goes to visit him, he is shocked that he is confined to a wheelchair due to having his legs removed from his injuries. He also learns that Nick is still in Vietnam, and after making Nick a promise not to leave him there, Michael travels to Saigon to get Nick who he finds still playing Russian Roulette professionally. The film ends in a shocking and sad note as only one of the friends will return back home alive.
The Deer Hunter’s acting, photography, and the way the director handles the material given to him really makes what this film is. It is one of the most impressive blending of box office and art I have seen next to The Godfather. I do not think that this movie is for everybody for example, anybody who is looking for non-stop war action such as Platoon or Saving Private Ryan should stick with those films as they will be disappointed with this film. I can see people complaining about the films lack of war action, but all of that is irrelevant to the story’s main focus of what happens to these three friends that their lives will change in ways that they would never know. Another thing that may bring this movie down to some is the movies some what slow start which lasts a little over one hour. To me this strengths the movie more because I actually feel for the characters and want them to survive and that is the movies main point.
The movie is about male bonding, life, and the dehumanizing effects of war. The Deer Hunter was the first movie to capture and deal with the horrors of Vietnam and I still think that this is the best. This is not a war film but a film about the soldiers of war and how they are effected by it when returning home. The film won five of the nine academy awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in A Supporting Role for Christopher Walken. Robert De Niro sadly did not win his nomination for Best Actor which is a real shame because he really shines in this movie and once again proves himself in being one of the best actors in film history. I easily give this film 5 stars out of 5 stars and should be viewed by anybody interested in a good and powerful story, timeless directing, and some of the best acting put on film.
Pacino kisses De Niro's shoes everyday.
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