The Deer Hunter (1978)“I'll tell ya one thing, if I find out my life had to end up being in the mountains, it'd be all right, but it has to be in your mind.” – Michael
Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter features one of the most harrowing and disturbing sequences in film; which is preceded by an incredibly drawn-out, relaxed introduction to the characters. It is an opening that truly tests the patience of an audience, but is nonetheless essential to the rest of the film as it sets up the characters: their histories, backgrounds, and relationships. This is important because all of it will be tested in the next act. I truly love the scene in the pool hall when they all start singing along with Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You. They are carefree and share a seemingly unbreakable bond. This is a powerfully scene, and it is ominously recreated later in the film after the events in Vietnam. This time they are silent and fail to even make eye contact. Things are different now.
Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter features one of the most harrowing and disturbing sequences in film; which is preceded by an incredibly drawn-out, relaxed introduction to the characters. It is an opening that truly tests the patience of an audience, but is nonetheless essential to the rest of the film as it sets up the characters: their histories, backgrounds, and relationships. This is important because all of it will be tested in the next act. I truly love the scene in the pool hall when they all start singing along with Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You. They are carefree and share a seemingly unbreakable bond. This is a powerfully scene, and it is ominously recreated later in the film after the events in Vietnam. This time they are silent and fail to even make eye contact. Things are different now.
Christopher Walken’s character feels such a tremendous sense of survivor’s guilt, that he condemns himself to stay in Vietnam after the war. He enlists in a deeply troubled act of penance, regarding the rest of his life as a game of chance. Robert De Niro’s character makes the decision that he must bring his friend home, and what follows is a scene that mirror’s the most famous moment in John Ford’s The Searchers when Ethan Edwards finally finds his kidnapped niece, Debbie, and she has no interest in coming home with him. Cimino takes this one step further, having Walken’s character not even recognize De Niro’s. This is such a shattering moment for DeNiro and for us. These two men were once the best of friends, but something very dark has entered their souls, something that will never go away. This really isn’t an anti-war film because we all know war is bad. It is, however, a reminder that we must and cannot ever forget the consequences.
The film’s tragedy is more complexly explored than in any other war-themed films I have seen and the final message, as dark, pessimistic, and frightening as it is, remains an evocative testament of human nature and endurance.
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