Masterpiece movie scene

Rating: 9/10 (31 March 2007)

I am talking about the Russian Roulette scene, possibly one of the few individual movie scenes vying for "best ever" status. For me, Michael Cimino has reached film greatness in making this gripping, haunting and unbearably, emotionally charged episode. His direction is flawless, down to the minute facial expressions and body movements of even the least important of the secondary characters. The atmosphere of total despair, when the value of human life is brought down to no value at all, is suffocating. Perhaps only stories of survivors from the Nazi Death Camps carry a similar aura. And in the relatively short duration of this inferno-on-film, Cimino takes us through the unfolding stories of his three heroes: Stevie/Savage cracking down under the immense and inhuman pressure, Nick/Walken beginning the process of being gripped by the black dog of madness, and then there is Michael/DeNiro. The viewer - no matter if male, female, straight or not - cannot help but fall in love with this on-screen person, this tower of strength and humanity. If you are ever to be in real dire straights, if you are ever to walk in the valley of the shadows - you pray to your creator to send a Michael/DeNiro to stand by you. I have rated this movie a 9 because it is not a perfect movie, however the Roulette scene reaches beyond perfection, and into the realm of true greatness. Cimino in directing and DeNiro in acting have here reached the very top of the mountain.