Powerful

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2013)

The Deer Hunter is the type of movie that when you watch it you can't have anything else on your mind. Today's generation more often than not use their phones while they watch a movie, distracting them from the story at hand by text messages, social networking sites, and emails. When you watch The Deer Hunter, turn your phones off, put away the snacks, and empty your mind completely of any lingering predicaments they may have happened prior to sitting down to watch the film. The only way to experience The Deer Hunter is to live it.
Director Michael Cimno is the showcased party from The Deer Hunter. The loose narrative allows Cimno to fully capture the characters, their struggles, and mental scarring. The script isn't cemented, which gives Cimno a lot of freedom. It's almost like we're watching a documentary of this group of people, the storytelling isn't very structured...but it works. I normally despise movies that don't get to the point they're trying to make, but The Deer Hunter struck me in a way no film of its nature has done before. It invested me into the lives of the characters, I really cared about what was going on, in a movie where not much does go on. The power Cimmo releases on the screen is admirable.
The film's split into three segregated pieces: before war, during war, and after war. The Deer Hunter holds up the war to our faces and asks is this necessary? People who didn't go to war, get the point-blank experience of it through the film's gripping, raw, distressing transcendence of feelings. War changes people, we get to live that fully with The Deer Hunter. The first act, we get to know these characters as people. We identify with their day-to-day lives, living situations, and friendships. During the war, Cimno hits us with some painful scenes, including the iconic Russian Roulette sequence. It's an unforgettable, incredibly crafted scene in not just this film, but the war genre. It explores male sensitivity and the bonds that ignite in wartime. When the third act rolls around, it's about healing the scars from the war. You can see the scars every where you look. It's a catharsis of pain, loss, and mental disfigurement.
Upon its release, controversy ensued due to the Russian Roulette topic covered heavily throughout the film. Apparently there was never any documented use of Russian Roulette and therefore the film was "lying" to the viewer. I dissent these accusations because The Deer Hunter isn't giving a play-by-play shot of the Vietnam war. It's main purpose is to depict the impact the war had on the men serving our country and their families. The Deer Hunter is an fictional, emotionally driven movie, not a news special describing the types of torture methods used in the war.
The Deer Hunter would almost be like an acting exercise for its principle actors. Getting to live the big picture of a character, not just the crux of a story that we usually get in movies. The actors here are allowed to experiment with the characters at uninteresting moments and still create drama within those moments. When Robert De Niro puts himself in a role, he doesn't look back. De Niro's strength and susceptibility in the war scenes move your heart around in your chest. Meryl Streep gets to show off in her first meaty role, supplying each moment with a different level of emotion. Christopher Walken has the most complex character and performance; the transformation that his character lives is astounding. The actors bring this movie to life by falling back on the mission statement of the film: to show the effects of war on human beings.
There's a specific technique Cimno uses with The Deer Hunter: lingering emotion. As the scene lingers on, emotion grows, and you become overwhelmed by the amount of response you feel in your heart to this film. The extreme length has been highly criticized by moviegoers, and usually I'm one of those people complaining about the unnecessary length in a movie, but here it feels right and is wonderfully fulfilling. Sure, a trim here or there wouldn't have hurt, but Cimno gets away with it because of the robust sentiment. It's a destructive piece that tears into your soul.
Not having a distinctive narrative voice, the Cimno is the one who makes the movie the commanding experience that is The Deer Hunter. Some shots are so intense and violent that you shutter at the pain you're watching, but others are beautifully moving it creates a peace in our mind. Filled with numerous sublime performances, a tremendous view on war, and moving tales of the human condition, The Deer Hunter only has a few missteps along the way. You won't soon forget this film, as it will be tugging at your emotion strings long after you complete the movie.
Rating: 9.5/10
Grade: A