The Deer Hunter
3.5/4
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, Meryl Streep, John Cazale
Rated R for Strong Graphic and Disturbing War Violence, Language and Alcohol Abuse (I Guess)
"The Deer Hunter" is a film in three acts: normal life, the war, and the aftermath. It's an emotional powerhouse with scenes that rival movies like "The War Zone" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin," or more appropriately, "Saving Private Ryan" and "Platoon" in terms of being able to deliver a series of gut punches to the mind and soul.
The film follows three men from a steel town in Pennsylvania. Mike (DeNiro), the aloof serious guy, Nick (Walken), the weird looking guy with a girlfriend Linda (Streep), and Steven (Savage), who has just married his fiancee, Angela (Rutanya Alda). The day after the wedding, the three of them are being shipped off to Vietnam, where because of the hell they are forced to take part in, their lives will be changed forever.
Films that show the true horror of war are not new. Even "The Longest Day," to a limited extent, showed that war isn't just an adventure. But with films like "Platoon" and the more influential "Saving Private Ryan," showing war to be anything but hell on earth is passe and offensive. Many films, such as "In the Valley of Elah," have shown war to be completely dehumanizing. "The Deer Hunter" concentrates not so much on gunfights and gory battles (although there are some of those), but on how war can cause people to do things they would normally be incapable of doing, and how it completely and irrevocably changes them. "The Deer Hunter" succeeds in ways many modern war films (post-9/11) do not because it has no obvious agenda. It is not designed to promote an obvious agenda. Politics are barely mentioned. Cimino has an agenda, I suppose, but it's not political. His opinion of the Vietnam War isn't addressed. What he concentrates on is how war in general breaks down a human being to a point where it is impossible to build back up.
There is a scene that perfectly illustrates this. When one of the soldiers comes home after his tour, his friends back home throw a welcome home party. He tells the cabbie to take him to a hotel instead, and hides out there until everyone is gone. Later, he is fussed over and congratulated by his old friends. They think this is how he wants to be welcomed home; they are happy that he is back and proud of his service to his country. But the reality is that given his experiences, he feels awkward with all the attention and gratitude, and that he needs peace, not attention and fame. The scene illustrates with uncommon poignancy how life always moves on back home, and the home that soldiers fight for isn't there when they come back.
What makes the film what it is are the flawless performances across the board. Robert DeNiro was just coming off his debut films with Martin Scorcese ("Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets") and his first Oscar win (Best Supporting Actor for "The Godfather Part II"). Known for playing intense and at times psychotic characters, this is DeNiro as we've never seen him. He's an everyman. A little aloof and standoffish, but not obviously deranged or violent in any way. He's short and to the point, but is fully capable of having normal relationships. Christopher Walken, who has become famous for playing weird characters (his appearance kind of demands it), plays a surprisingly normal individual. Nick is the guy next door; a nice guy, but cool under pressure. Well, he's not the latter, but he doesn't show it until we finally see what the war has done to him. John Savage is in some ways the most tragic figure in the film. He has it all, until the war causes him to lose everything. He doesn't keep his emotions bottled up inside of him, and one of the toughest scenes to watch is when he loses his sanity to fear. Meryl Streep got her first Oscar nomination for her performance, and while that's not necessarily a mistake it's a little surprising. Streep his her usual reliable self, but she just doesn't have much to do. Still, she does wonders with what she's given.
"The Deer Hunter" was directed by Michael Cimino, whose career was destroyed by the legendary flop, "Heaven's Gate." He directs the film with a sure hand; the film is tightly controlled (Cimino is a notorious perfectionist), although it doesn't feel like it. It appears to be moving along completely naturally, as if it is guided by real people rather than the needs of a formula or the director's message (or ego). However, the film isn't flawless. The editing is at times awkward (oddly enough, the film's editor, Peter Zinner, won an Oscar for his work), and some scenes run on for too long. Some clips or in one instance, a small scene, seem to be missing. Additionally, many of the film's elements are meant to be metaphorical, but as to what is a mystery (for example, the significance of deer hunting). But these are small blemishes on an otherwise breathtaking production.
Russian Roulette became an infamous underground game after the release of this movie (approximately 28 people have died playing it since the film's release). These scenes were controversial upon its release, with many critics claiming that such instances never took place in the Vietnam War. Cimino and DeNiro defended these scenes, claiming they added to the realism of the story. In fact, Cimino included them to cause controversy. Regardless, blaming the film (not to mention the fact that it was imitated) baffles me. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than people who play it have some seriously twisted ideas. The game is not presented as a form of entertainment (at least to the film's audience...there are extras who cheer and bet on who is going to blow their brains out, some of which are not Vietnamese) for the characters we have come to understand and care about. It is an act of anger by the VietCong, a way to exorcise their pain from war and death. It is an act of inhuman torture to break the victim's human spirit as much as their own.
This is an amazingly powerful film, sometimes rivaling "The War Zone" and "Once Were Warriors" for emotional power. Like "The War Zone," the film looks gorgeous (the cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond is truly beautiful and haunting). This is not a movie for those seeking light entertainment. But for those who seek to understand the unspoken casualty of war, this is a must see.
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, Meryl Streep, John Cazale
Rated R for Strong Graphic and Disturbing War Violence, Language and Alcohol Abuse (I Guess)
"The Deer Hunter" is a film in three acts: normal life, the war, and the aftermath. It's an emotional powerhouse with scenes that rival movies like "The War Zone" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin," or more appropriately, "Saving Private Ryan" and "Platoon" in terms of being able to deliver a series of gut punches to the mind and soul.
The film follows three men from a steel town in Pennsylvania. Mike (DeNiro), the aloof serious guy, Nick (Walken), the weird looking guy with a girlfriend Linda (Streep), and Steven (Savage), who has just married his fiancee, Angela (Rutanya Alda). The day after the wedding, the three of them are being shipped off to Vietnam, where because of the hell they are forced to take part in, their lives will be changed forever.
Films that show the true horror of war are not new. Even "The Longest Day," to a limited extent, showed that war isn't just an adventure. But with films like "Platoon" and the more influential "Saving Private Ryan," showing war to be anything but hell on earth is passe and offensive. Many films, such as "In the Valley of Elah," have shown war to be completely dehumanizing. "The Deer Hunter" concentrates not so much on gunfights and gory battles (although there are some of those), but on how war can cause people to do things they would normally be incapable of doing, and how it completely and irrevocably changes them. "The Deer Hunter" succeeds in ways many modern war films (post-9/11) do not because it has no obvious agenda. It is not designed to promote an obvious agenda. Politics are barely mentioned. Cimino has an agenda, I suppose, but it's not political. His opinion of the Vietnam War isn't addressed. What he concentrates on is how war in general breaks down a human being to a point where it is impossible to build back up.
There is a scene that perfectly illustrates this. When one of the soldiers comes home after his tour, his friends back home throw a welcome home party. He tells the cabbie to take him to a hotel instead, and hides out there until everyone is gone. Later, he is fussed over and congratulated by his old friends. They think this is how he wants to be welcomed home; they are happy that he is back and proud of his service to his country. But the reality is that given his experiences, he feels awkward with all the attention and gratitude, and that he needs peace, not attention and fame. The scene illustrates with uncommon poignancy how life always moves on back home, and the home that soldiers fight for isn't there when they come back.
What makes the film what it is are the flawless performances across the board. Robert DeNiro was just coming off his debut films with Martin Scorcese ("Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets") and his first Oscar win (Best Supporting Actor for "The Godfather Part II"). Known for playing intense and at times psychotic characters, this is DeNiro as we've never seen him. He's an everyman. A little aloof and standoffish, but not obviously deranged or violent in any way. He's short and to the point, but is fully capable of having normal relationships. Christopher Walken, who has become famous for playing weird characters (his appearance kind of demands it), plays a surprisingly normal individual. Nick is the guy next door; a nice guy, but cool under pressure. Well, he's not the latter, but he doesn't show it until we finally see what the war has done to him. John Savage is in some ways the most tragic figure in the film. He has it all, until the war causes him to lose everything. He doesn't keep his emotions bottled up inside of him, and one of the toughest scenes to watch is when he loses his sanity to fear. Meryl Streep got her first Oscar nomination for her performance, and while that's not necessarily a mistake it's a little surprising. Streep his her usual reliable self, but she just doesn't have much to do. Still, she does wonders with what she's given.
"The Deer Hunter" was directed by Michael Cimino, whose career was destroyed by the legendary flop, "Heaven's Gate." He directs the film with a sure hand; the film is tightly controlled (Cimino is a notorious perfectionist), although it doesn't feel like it. It appears to be moving along completely naturally, as if it is guided by real people rather than the needs of a formula or the director's message (or ego). However, the film isn't flawless. The editing is at times awkward (oddly enough, the film's editor, Peter Zinner, won an Oscar for his work), and some scenes run on for too long. Some clips or in one instance, a small scene, seem to be missing. Additionally, many of the film's elements are meant to be metaphorical, but as to what is a mystery (for example, the significance of deer hunting). But these are small blemishes on an otherwise breathtaking production.
Russian Roulette became an infamous underground game after the release of this movie (approximately 28 people have died playing it since the film's release). These scenes were controversial upon its release, with many critics claiming that such instances never took place in the Vietnam War. Cimino and DeNiro defended these scenes, claiming they added to the realism of the story. In fact, Cimino included them to cause controversy. Regardless, blaming the film (not to mention the fact that it was imitated) baffles me. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than people who play it have some seriously twisted ideas. The game is not presented as a form of entertainment (at least to the film's audience...there are extras who cheer and bet on who is going to blow their brains out, some of which are not Vietnamese) for the characters we have come to understand and care about. It is an act of anger by the VietCong, a way to exorcise their pain from war and death. It is an act of inhuman torture to break the victim's human spirit as much as their own.
This is an amazingly powerful film, sometimes rivaling "The War Zone" and "Once Were Warriors" for emotional power. Like "The War Zone," the film looks gorgeous (the cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond is truly beautiful and haunting). This is not a movie for those seeking light entertainment. But for those who seek to understand the unspoken casualty of war, this is a must see.
Comments
Post a Comment