![]() The boys are soon captured by the North Vietnamese, and what follows is the most memorable and horrific scene in the film. ![]() In hindsight, the confusion of these disorienting events adds to the nightmare. Mike, Nick, and Steven are reunited unexpectedly, so some amount of time has passed. A village is torched with flame-throwers while women and babies are massacred in the most brutal way. We then cut to the war, already in progress-no setup or transition. It’s a somber, unexpected moment that adds some much-needed pathos to these characters and their surroundings. Nick makes Mike promise that he won’t “leave him over there” in Vietnam, and after the hunt, the boys retreat to their favorite bar for one last round while John sits at an old piano and begins to play a nocturne by Chopin. The cast is appealing and the acting excellent-a major factor in its redemption. It plays better in memory than it does while watching it. You’re repugnant human beings.Īs I said, time and distance soften my anger and help erase The Deer Hunter‘s many faults. Despite several tense and horrific scenes in the remaining two-thirds of the movie, the stakes aren’t high enough anymore. I don’t like people or characters who do this, which means I am no longer invested on an emotional level with what happens to these steel-working buddies. But it’s a revolting “sport” to take pride and glee in killing innocent animals with rifles while laughing about it. If you hunt to survive and need the meat for sustenance, that’s one thing. I’ve gotta be honest about the deer-hunting scene and hunting in general. Nick proposes to Linda at the reception, and she accepts. They agree, and we learn that both men are in love with her. After he beats her, she packs a suitcase and shows up on Mike and Nick’s doorstep, hoping she can rent their trailer home while they are away. Angela’s maid of honor Linda (Meryl Streep, in her first Oscar-nominated performance) lives with her abusive, alcoholic father. Steven’s mother (Shirley Stoler) disapproves of the marriage, voicing her strong opinion to anyone who’ll listen. Angela is trying to hide her premarital pregnancy as she stands before the mirror, modeling her wedding dress. Engaging backstories and setups aside, it outstays its welcome, but if you’re in no particular rush, there’s an interesting story here. ![]() The first hour (one-third of this movie’s bloated, three-hour running time) depicts their last hurrah: a Russian Orthodox wedding, the inebriated after-party, and a final deer hunt. Steven is marrying Angela (Rutanya Alda) in a few hours, and their reception is doubling as a going-away party for Mike, Nick, and the groom himself, who are all leaving for active duty in Vietnam the following day.Ĭhristopher Walken (Nick), Robert De Niro (Mike), and John Savage (Steven). The story opens with this trio and their buddies “Stosh” (John Cazale in his final film role), John (George Dzundza), and “Axel” (Chuck Aspegren) finishing a shift and heading to their favorite bar on the dawn of Steven’s wedding day. Their simple and relatively happy life is primarily comprised of drinking beer and whisky, shooting pool, and deer hunting. Robert De Niro as Mike, Oscar-winner Christopher Walken as Nick, and John Savage as Steven work the graveyard shift at a local steel mill in Clairton, Pennsylvania. What I’m left with is the indelible memory of three average, steel-town workers and their loved ones whose lives are forever altered by the horrors of war. And long after the movie ends, my mind has completed the circles by filling several (often great) gaps in the narrative, I’ve concocted motivations for vague or unexplained incidents, I’ve truncated the slow passages, and I’ve excused unlikable characters. Strong performances, keen direction of actors, masterful cinematography, and a poignant score keep things afloat. Michael makes it possible for them to escape, but they soon get separated again.Despite the unnecessary length, cavernous plot holes, and sluggish pacing, The Deer Hunter is still a powerful film. After some time and many horrors the three friends fall in the hands of the Vietcong and are brought to a prison camp in which they are forced to play Russian roulette against each other. Before they go, Steven marries the pregnant Angela and their wedding-party is also the men's farewell party. Michael, Steven and Nick are young factory workers from Pennsylvania who enlist into the Army to fight in Vietnam. Best Original Screenplay - Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K.Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Walken.Best Sound - Richard Portman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, Darin Knight.Best Picture - Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michasel Cimino, John Peverall.
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