#1 symbolism of Russian roulette

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 2014)

The Russian roulette scene is a very powerful in portraying the reality of soldiers in Vietnam. The director was trying to show how it was life or death for the war prisoners but a human board game for the Viet Cong soldiers. The scene shows how the prisoners are just waiting for their eminent death. If they didn't die from the first shot in roulette, they would die on the shots to come. If they didn't die on that day, they would die on another day. Their lives becomes a number game; they depend on odds to stay alive. I agree that this is how life was for prisoners in Vietnam. There was no use in keeping prisoners alive during that time. The Viet Cong soldiers tried to 'entertain' themselves by betting on the game. Also, the author could of put the scene to hint the fact that they were of Russian background. The part when Robert De Niro's character takes away the gun from his friend foreshadows the scene.