Once upon a time in Vietnam.

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 1999)

It is quite a matter of personal view whether 'Deer Hunter(DH)' is a real masterpiece or not. However, it can shed a comparative light on another masterpiece-'Once upon a time in America(OTA)'- which indulged in the autopsy of American history. Both are directed by Italino-American directors who have an alienated view of American society. There is a setting of friendship and its collapse all through the common sequences of both films. De Niro has taken the role of narrator, observer, and outsider in DH and OTA, respectively. They are exposing the most painful episodes of the United States- the Prohibition and the Vietnam War. And most significantly, they commonly end with the hymn ' God Bless America'!! Sergio Leone and Michael Cimino are concurrently asking "God really bless America?" throughout their hallmarking works. Meanwhile, Leone has succeeded in answering the question by OTA, however, Cimino has just cast a more sarcastic version of that question thrrough DH, only to have failed in answering the real question through the next film- 'Heaven's Gate"