From: eugene@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject: BC in Movies
Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 03:34:25 GMT

Ah another previous topic.

One can chose numerous G and PG-13 rated films.  The D film has been covered.
I chose Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter as another "flawed masterpiece."*
[*flawed masterpiece is not my term, but it describes the quality of the
film].  The film is rated R for a small amount of sex and a considerable
bit of violence (perhaps some of the most realistic violence ever shown
on screen: Total Recall doesn't have anything on this film).
Stop reading now if you think you will get sick.

The film is an allegoric anti-war film produced in 1978/9 and was overshadowed
by Hal Ashby's Coming Home [w/ Jane Fonda and Jon Viogt] and Frances Coppola's
Apocolypse Now.  The Deer Hunter is the film which pushed Robert DeNiro into
his great status (as the Deer Hunter: Michael) and gave real name recognition
to Meryl Streep (who plays the girlfriend of Nick).  It also typecast
Christopher Walken (as Nick, an up and coming outdoors man) and John Savage
(Steve, the third of the best buddies) but made them notable stars if crazy
roles.  The film is a long film by most standards and it gave Cimino enough
money and recognition that his next film Heaven's Gate was a flop.

Spoilers:

The story revolved around three very close friends and a small number of
lesser friends who grew up in a working class Russian-American steel mill
in Penn.  It details their ethnic and social lives before and after
their experience in Vietnam, and the fundamental changes which took place
in all of them.  As a Vietnam film, it has no immediate base in reality,
so it can only be taken at an allegorical level.  In fact Cimino has taken
so many liberties, you wonder about the value of the film.

Some of the most beautiful (well filmed) outdoor scenes ever to appear on
the silver screen which were supposed to have taken place in the
Allegheny Mountains were filmed near to Mt. Baker in Washington (no
volcanos with glaciers in Penn.).  But it's not hard to suspend your
beliefs.  The jungle is also a hauntingly beautiful backcountry for the
few seconds before a fire mission.  The film seems to drag in some places,
but it moves at its own pace.  The contrast of the steel mills to the
mountains provides a good range of human experience.

Another criticism of the film is that it has too many characters.
But I think that one or two of them really shine.  John Gaz.* plays
Stanley the short frail gun freak who always carries around some gun
(reminds me of some people I know): no hope for him.
Axel is a favorite straight-man characters.  And the bartender
is a fully sympathetic character.

Michael has been grooming Nick (and Steve) as apprentice hunters.
Unfortunately he is only able to "save" one of them.  He assumes that
Nick is capable enough of surviving but is wrong.  Michael's solution
to their captivity is seemingly "unique."  It's a real game.
The other three (Stanley, Axel, and the Bartender) are along for the ride.
They aren't "real" hunters and yet they are.  They are capable (excepting
Stanley, the butt of all jokes) of having a good time.

The music is simple and down to earth.

Michael's relation with women (in particular Streep) is an interesting one.
He plays the "strong silent type" who comes with weakness with women
(to the point of his friends calling him gay).  The women in the film
(excepting Streep) have a minor role.

The role of nature is the standard idea that the natural world is pure
and unadulterated.  The height of this comes on the second hunting trip
where in the space of seconds Michael no longer has the heart to shoot
the deer and yet doesn't hesistate to deal with Stanley is his pipsqueak
pistol.

The closest bit of the reality and one basis of the film was the
summary execution of a suspected Vietcong sympathizer during the Tet
Offense where the man's brains were blown away (most people remember this
incident as a still, but Cimino was clearly a person who also saw the
film footage [a still appears as wall paper in Woody Allen's
Stardust Memories]).  Cimino uses the game of Russian Roulette (remember,
these guys were Russian-Americans, also a cold war element here) as the
symbol for war.  Since there were no reported cases of thise actually
happening, this aspect of the film drew lots of criticism.

Some things appear too obvious: e.g., the spilling of wine and the
appearance of the Special Forces sargent at the wedding (Michael goes into
the SF while the other two guys go into 1st Cav.).  The film drew
considerable flak for its unflattering portaryal of the Vietnamese.
But I believe that to be more a point of view decision (They are R-A again).

The climax might seem predictable now, but when the film was first released,
it had a far greater emotional impact.  First time viewers might still
get that, but the the world is a more grim place since the filming.

The ending has been heavily criticized as well, but it was Cimino's
intent to make it ambiguous and loving as possible.  If you are "into"
war movies with a hero, victory, clear cut battles and an enemy,
you will not like this film.

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov
  Associate Editor, Software and Publication Reviews
  Scientific Programming
  {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene
Seeking Books to buy:	Bongard, Pattern Recognition
			3 down 1 to go.


From damouth@wrc.xerox.com  Mon Jan 25 09:24:36 1993
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Date: 	Mon, 25 Jan 1993 09:23:53 PST
From: damouth@wrc.xerox.com (David E. Damouth)
Message-Id: <9301251723.AA26591@djin.wrc.xerox.com>
To: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov
Subject: Re:  (27/28) [l/m 5/5/92] Film/Cinema		Distilled wisdom  XYZ
Status: R

If you are still collecting input:  "A River Runs Through It" should be
on anyone's list of backcountry films to see.

"Homeward Bound" is  just being released by Disney.  It's yet another
"Lassie Come Home" takeoff, but based on the preview, the nature
photography is spectacular and the  stars (two dogs and a cat) are
loveable enough to attract all but confirmed pet-haters.

"Alive" is now in the theaters.  I don't intend to go, since I own the
book.  But the setting (winter in the high Andes) certainly should
provide material for good photography.  The book is a documentary of an
actual plane crash.  The survivors stayed alive for  by eating their
dead comrades.   Rescue was slow (months? - I haven't read it for
years), and the lessons about survival in harsh conditions with minimal
equipment are interesting for anyone who things about such things. For
this purpose, the book should be far better than the movie.

"Last of the MOhicans" should have been a vehicle for keeping us eastern 
backcountry scenery buffs happy - it is set in the Adirondacks.  But
so many liberties are taken by photographers and editors more interested
in cuteness than authenticity, that I was annoyed.  Many of the woods
scenes had lush rhododendrons growing around the camp site.  They are
pretty bushes, but I've never seen one growing wild within 200 miles 
of the claimed location (well north of Albany).  The mountain vistas also
seemed a little faked and hokey.  The producer's penchant
for dark moods didn't help - nearly every scene was in the rain or fog.
Some people feel that such weather is typical of the Adirondacks, but
a little sun would have been nice occasionally.   The plot didn't help 
much either - long on battles and short on plot, character development,
and depth.

/DAve