Voyage au bout de l'enfer

One of the first films to employ the subject of Vietnam War into its premise, The Deer Hunter tells the story of three young factory workers in Pennsylvania who enlist into the army to fight the ongoing war in Vietnam, only to discover that war isn't a noble venture they imagined but a hellish chaos which in the end, completely changes their entire personalities.

The film is a three act feature in which the first act introduces its three primary characters, their friendships, the women they're in love with & their perspectives on life. The second act is set in Vietnam & covers the brutality they undergo there. And the final act depicts the massive change war has brought into not just their lives but also the society they are part of as a whole.

Michael Cimino's direction is good in parts, camera-work & music are also a plus and the strong cast of Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, Meryl Streep & others do chip in with sincere performances but compared to the reputation & acclaim this film has enjoyed over the years, the experience of sitting through this snail-paced war drama didn't turn out to be even remotely satisfying.

The Deer Hunter isn't really a war film but a tragic drama that aims to portray the personality change something as gruesome as war can bring in not just those who serve in it but an entire community which I actually appreciate but for the majority of its runtime, this film is a pain to sit through. The film is over three hours long which is strongly felt & filled with characters who are not that interesting anyway.

It opens with a wedding sequence which, for a while, felt like will go on forever. The second act is set in Vietnam is the only part that had my attention & the Russian roulette scene is easily the film's best moment for it is extremely intense & brilliantly filmed. The final act is a disappointment again where we are supposed to draw a comparison with the first act & that's all there is to this feature.

On an overall scale, there are moments of brilliance within the film yet for the most part, The Deer Hunter remains an underwhelming cinematic experience that's awfully boring, is far too long, presents a one-sided view of war, requires its audience to suspend disbelief greatly and, in my humble opinion which you don't have to agree with, is one of the most overrated films ever made.

A comment re the other comments: A lot of the comments criticize the first half hour as being too long. In my opinion, these comments miss the point of the movie.

Of course many of the scenes in the first hour don't advance the narrative. They're not supposed to; they're for character development.

The whole point of the movie is to show us how the various characters were affected by the war. It wouldn't have worked nearly as powerfully as it does had the first hour been trimmed down. We have to sense the careless and frat-boy-like immaturity of these young men. That's why the scenes all revolve around frivolity and seemingly senseless boyish behavior; it creates such a stark contrast to the devastated characters of the three who went to war (and the relatively unaffected personalities of those who stayed behind, like Stanley).

The strong points of the film are the outstanding performances of nearly every actor in the movie. Yes, there are technical deficiencies in the sound, but it hardly matters. This is nitpicking compared to the overall construction of the film.

No, this is not the best film about the Vietnam War; it's hardly about Vietnam at all. The vets who don't like it have it wrong, as do the Vietnamese who found it racist. It could be any war, with any combatants. But because the (primary) victims here are recognizable American archetypes, Americans will feel this in their gut more than any other war film I know of. This is one of the very few post-war Hollywood films that shows a sincere reverence for the lives of small town Americans.

After seeing it in a very high quality theater on its initial release, I walked out thinking it was easily one of the best movies I had ever seen - and that I never wanted to see it again. But I looked at it today on cable and found that not much had changed about it, or me. I don't want to see it again...but I want you to see it.

Even now, the Russian Roulette scene (in context, people: watch all that comes before it first) is the single most intense sequence I've seen; it makes the end of "Reservoir Dogs" seem like a cartoon. Best Walken performance, period. Meryl Streep glows, DeNiro has seldom been more affecting. A unique classic...it is not surprising that Cimino didn't have another movie in him after something this wrenching.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

**** (out of 4)

Michael Cimino's masterpiece about three friend (Robert DeNiro, John Savage, Christopher Walken) whose lives we see before, during and after the Vietnam war.

THE DEER HUNTER ended up winning five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Walken. The film was a hit at the box office and won all sorts of critical acclaim but I still think the film is quite underrated as it's one of the most draining and emotional films ever made. It's certainly not a fun or pleasant movie to watch but there's no question that Cimino made something incredibly powerful and at times shocking.

The film might have been praised but some threw a lot of criticism at it including some of the Vietnam scenes dealing with the Russian roulette. Many have said that the most powerful scenes in the movie were nothing more than a work of fiction but I find this to be a rather silly complaint because this was a movie and not a documentary. These scenes are some of the most powerful moments in film history so to say the film would have been better off without them is rather stupid. The scenes in Vietnam with the solders being forced to play against one another are among the most intense scenes you will ever see.

Another bit of criticism is aimed at Cimino and his decision to make the wedding sequence last for fifty-two minutes. Personally speaking, I think this was a great decision and the other two-thirds of the film wouldn't have been as powerful without such a long opening. Not only do we get to know all of the characters involved but a lot of the stuff that happens here pays off later in the movie. One of the most powerful and telling scenes deals with a soldier who comes to drink at the bar and is confronted by DeNiro. I'm obviously not going to spoil anything but this plays an important part later in the picture on the mental state of his character.

Speaking of DeNiro, he once again delivers a marvelous performance and especially since he's the main character in the movie and must play so many different emotions. The actor perfectly nails the character and really brings a lot of heart and soul to the picture. The ensemble cast really does a remarkable job here with Meryl Streep showing what greatness was to come with her. Walken deserved his Oscar for his heartbreaking performance. Savage, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren and John Cazale are all equally wonderful as well.

Technically speaking the film is quite flawless with some masterful cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond as well as a haunting and incredibly moving score by Stanley Myers. THE DEER HUNTER is without question one of the most depressing and emotionally draining movies that you'll ever see but it's also a masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever created.

Eight stars. The seeds of Cimino's downfall were sown in his greatest triumph.

His Heaven's Gate was the disaster that ended the Hollywood auteur era of the 60s and 70s. And one needs look no further than the first act of The Deer Hunter to see why. Maybe Cimino thought he really needed three one-hour acts for some sort of symmetry. I don't know. What I do know is that act one was about twice as long as it had any business being. It dragged. Painfully so.

Now, once we leave Clairton for Vietnam, the film elevates to brilliance. Acts two and three are masterful. Cimino's work here is glorious. And the acting is splendid from the first scene onward. DeNiro and Walken get most of the cred, but Streep and Cazale are both monumental here. Savage and Dzundza also turn in splendid performances. Dzundza's is the easiest to overlook, just as Savage's is the easiest to discount. But his work is needed for the whole tragic tale to hang together. Nick and Steve are both shattered by their experiences. And, for all his love and effort, Mike really can't save them.

This is a great film. If Cimino had cut half an hour from act one, it would be a transcendant one. 14 August 2023.