by Chris Marshall:
I’m glad last year’s winner was a comedy, because Michael
Cimino forgot to put any jokes in The
Deer Hunter. Rarely will you ever see a more depressing film, which is
quite a statement, considering that this decade alone we have seen or will see
a man lobotomized, a bitter custody battle, and several dozen murders.
Released just a few years after the end of the Vietnam War,
this movie tells the story of three friends who enlist in the military and how
that choice affects not only their own lives but the lives of everybody they
know. It’s similar in many ways to The Best Years of Our Lives, except that it shows more than just the aftermath of
the war. You see it all, from a wedding right before they ship out to the most
horrible moments of their war experiences.
The Best Years of Our
Lives is a better movie overall, but I think that seeing exactly what the
guys in The Deer Hunter went through
makes it easier to understand why they’re so irreparably damaged when it’s
over. Even Mike (Robert De Niro), who escapes more or less unscathed
physically, will never be the same.
Our other main characters, Nick (Christopher Walken) and Stevie
(that other guy[1]),
are not even that lucky. All three survive the war itself, but they often wish
that they hadn’t. One is physically disfigured; the other is mentally
shattered.
I’d guess that for
most people, hearing the title of this film conjures up the image of Russian roulette;
it always has for me. But I thought it appeared only in one scene, and after it
was over, I felt safe. Not so. There is a lot
of Russian roulette being played throughout the movie. It never gets any easier
to watch. The idea is so inherently horrifying that, even knowing it’s not
really happening, it still elicits a visceral response. If you’re really into
it, though, I’d suggest you check out the 2005 French film 13 Tzameti, directed by Gela Babluani. He managed to turn it into a
whole movie.
I thought this was a very good film for the most part, but
it was far from perfect. There was no reason for it to be three hours long. The
wedding scene at the beginning dragged on forever. And Cimino went out of his
way to create melodrama. This subject matter is depressing enough on its own.
There’s no need to milk it for all it’s worth with unnecessary contrivances.
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| The long-awaited video game adaptation! |
The greatest achievement of The Deer Hunter might have been giving Saint Meryl to the world.
Though she had one previous minor film role, this was her first major
appearance, and she has never looked back. She doesn’t need me to give any
evidence of her credentials, but check this out. Meryl Streep has acted in 48
films. She’s been nominated for a major acting award for 23 of them, including
17 Academy Award nominations.
1977, 1978, and 1979 were the Years of Walken and Streep.
Walken started it with a brief appearance in Annie Hall, and then he won Best Supporting Actor and Streep was
nominated for Best Supporting Actress in The
Deer Hunter. That was pretty much it for Walken, but Streep went on to a
BAFTA nomination for 1979’s Manhattan
and won her first of three Oscars (so far) for Best Actress in Kramer vs. Kramer.
Sadly, this would be the last film that John Cazale ever
appeared in, outside of stock footage in The
Godfather Part Three. He died of bone cancer before the film was finished,
but he will always be remembered for an accomplishment that will likely never
be matched. All five films he appeared in (six, if you count the final Godfather) either won or were nominated
for Best Picture. Considering that his partner until his death was Meryl
Streep, will there ever be that great of an acting couple[2]
again?
This was the last 1970s Best Picture winner I was excited to
see, but spoiler alert, I ended up really liking Kramer vs. Kramer, too. I should have known better than to doubt
Saint Meryl.
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