Excellent Use of Russian Roulette

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2016)

#1. Scenes from "The Deer Hunter" show a repetitive use of the game Russian roulette. This occurs while the men are held hostage in the Vietnamese POW camp, while the friends are deer hunting back in the US, and again in Vietnam as a means of entertainment and way to gamble money. Surely this recurrence is for a purpose.
Without a doubt, director Michael Cimino uses it to increase the tension in the movie by pushing men to their wits end and testing the boundaries of their mental strength. For example, viewers become restless with anticipation when the soldiers hold the gun up to their head with one bullet in the chamber at random. For every time the gun 'clicks' without a bullet in the chamber, the odds increase that the next shot will result in the bullet through the skull.
Though it seems that Russian roulette was never actually played during the Vietnam War, I believe the director used it as a tactic for fear and distress amongst the soldiers. In my opinion, it symbolizes the gamble that they took by enrolling (or being forcibly drafted) into the war. Though without a doubt, they could die in service, but truly any possible outcome was a bad one; even if they survived, the soldiers would continue to be haunted by injuries, PTSD, or other negative effects of the war.
*Spoiler* The scene at the end when Michael (De Niro) returns to Vietnam to rescue Nick (Walken) is especially emotional as Nick has been stripped of his humanity by participating in these games of roulette for profit. Once they meet, Michael tries in futility to jog Nick's memory of their friendship, their time spent in the POW camp, and all they've been through. However, Nick's dead eyes show no recollection of these memories. Instead, Michael knows the last chance he has to rescue Nick requires him to put his own life at risk by playing roulette.
In my opinion, Nick's glazed-over eyes symbolize the average Vietnam soldier--lifeless and emotionless after witnessing the senseless brutality of the war. The use of Russian roulette within "The Deer Hunter" serves to represent the Vietnam War as a whole, complete with the gamble and inevitable resulting violence and destruction.