Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep deliver outstanding performances, truly doing this film justice in that it conveys a very difficult subject, the Vietnam War. The layout of the film takes you through three parts: Pre-war, during the war, and Post-war.
I don't want to go to much into depth about the plot because you've seen it Mr. D, but I would also be writing pages because so much happened throughout the movie. To quickly summarize, a gaggle of Russian-American guys live in a little industrial town in Pennsylvania and some go off to war. The story follows them through a wedding of one of their friends, hunting up in the mountains, combat during the war, and then the aftermath of everyone's lives.The wedding party scene took up a good chunk of the first part of the movie, and it took five days to film. This vibrant scene was action-packed in that it conveyed a whole range of emotions. It is a happy time, but there it a lot of tension built in this scene. One of the characters hits his girlfriend for dancing with another guy, and De Niro's character, Michael, drunkenly flirts with Meryl Streep's character, Linda, who is with Christopher Walken's character, Nick. After watching the film, I think this scene is so important because of the characterization it provides. These Russian-American people are still very connected to their Russian heritage, and yet some of these people go to Vietnam to fight for a country that is not truly their own, no matter how much they want it to be. They may live and work in America, but wedding/recpetion scene still shows their strong Russian connections. All the old ladies are seen wearing babushkas speaking with heavy accents.
Despite their Russian culture, these people are willing to accept the American way, showing this by going off to fight in Vietnam. But, (and I really don't want to give too much away because I think this film is important for people to see) Walken's character, Nick, loses faith in the American way of life, choosing to stay in Vietnam going AWOL, playing suicidal Russian Roulette games with the Vietnamese.
The one scene I want to pay specific attention to is the piano bar scene. I loved this scene. It provided a very, very sobering effect among all of the drunkenness up until now. The group of friends goofed around, drinking heavily at the wedding, going deer hunting, etc, and this is the first scene in which the viewer can feel the heavy sadness, finally seeing the guys acknowledge their imminent involvement in the war. The viewer sees this in the silent exchanges between Michael and Nick, a sort of acceptance. Close-ups on a character's face, with the piano being played in the background also provides this feeling of utter sadness. The camera pans across each person's face, and it is evident all of their minds are thinking about the Vietnam War.
This scene provides a short break from all the craziness and tension of the wedding/recpetion/deer hunt, and it was very important in that it conveyed the raw feeling of sadness--but also acceptance--of the Vietnam War. The scene then cuts straight to combat in Vietnam, being the first of a whole host of gut-wrenching scenes to follow.
The film's sound stood out to me. In Pennsylvania, I had a hard time hearing everything that was being said amongst all of the background noise. In vietnam, it was eerily quiet, and everything could be understood. I'm not sure if this was just a default of the time period in which this film was made, but I really noticed the sound. The music had a big hand in conveying feeling. During the deer hunt, church music was played, giving the hunt a sort of noble, godly feeling towards the feeling, perhaps providing contrast to the pointless killing in Vietnam. The acting was superb. Meryl Streep was said to have improvised many of her lines, and this is the first time I've seen how much expression she has in her face. I'm used to seeing her in the Devil Wears Prada, and in that movie she is an ice queen, and I haven't seen her in many other films. Robert De Niro was excellent as always, and out of all his films I think this was his best performance. During the roulette scenes it is said that De Niro suggested putting one bullet in the chamber to enhance the actors' emotions, but the gun was always checked to make sure that bullet would not be fired. Either way, that shows tremendous dedication to acting.
The controversy surrounding this film is deep. Many critics say that there are no documented cases of the Vietnamese playing roulette, and that they were unfairly portrayed in the film. From my history classes throughout the years, I've learned about the Vietnam War and that U.S. involvement didn't do anything for anyone. Our involvement was pointless. That being said, the vicious, nauseating past time of the Vietnamese handling their POWs in the film was a pointless, superfluous act. The game reflects just utter, pointless killing, providing Cimino's sentiments and commentary towards the war. There has been documented savagery towards all different kinds of people in the Vietnam War, and this film is one way of representing a person's journey through the serious physical and psychological effects of the war and how he handles it.I still can't describe how I felt watching this movie, and I was left with an uncomfortable, clammy feeling (to emphasize this I watched Seven right after it and actually felt better). I'm still amazed at how many different emotions The Deer Hunter evoked in me, and it is by far one of the most riveting, gut wrenching movies I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it.
4.5/5 stars.
Hey Devon. Glad you had such a powerful experience with this film. I wrote a 12-page paper on it in college, so I could go on and on about it. It's one of my favorites, and I think, a great representation of '70s filmmaking and anti-war America. I agree with yout--I think this is DeNiro's best performance, I would say, ever. I think people would counter with his "Raging Bull" or "Taxi Driver" performances, but I disagree. I think he shows more subtlety and range in this role.
ReplyDeleteI see The Deer Hunter as an exploration of American masculinity at a time when America felt impotent (post-war Vietnam--we lost!). There are so many references to "what a man is/does" in this film. Men don't dance, they stay with their friends, they only need "one shot," etc. There's a search DeNiro seems to be on for some sense of purity as a man, and obviously, the war (and the resulting changes/fallout from it) renders this unattainable. The deer hunting sequences are filmed so well, and contrast so well with the POW scenes. Watch DeNiro's face during the roulette scenes--I've been hard-pressed to find that much intensity in an actor's face in any film I've seen in the past few years.
Like I said, I could go on forever. But, this is definitely a film that rewards multiple viewings. I actually like the "roulette" metaphor that Cimino went with. It's a quick way to visually display a symbol for horror, chaos, randomness, inequity, violence--everything that the Vietnam War seemed to be for those who fought. Being faced with the continuous possibility that you could die NOW dehumanizes these characters. In fact, Michael is unable to recognize his friends when they find him in Vietnam (the first time). And, Nicky is unable to recognize Michael at the end.
There's a sadness in this film that Cimino effectively pulls along the whole way through. The irony of the final scene, "God Bless America," is done so well.
OK, so this is way too long, but I just couldn't help myself. Come back to The Deer Hunter again in a year or two, and see what you think. It's one of a handful of films that have had a true, lasting impression on me.
Great work with this. I'm interested in what film you'll watch next. Next time, I promise not to write this long!!!