The Definitive Anti-War Statement Told Through Life-Affirming Drama; Showing How War Is A Cruel and Deceiving World Covered Up By Medals and Media Glamorisation

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2006)

War has always been a touchy subject in cinema and one that has been show through different parallels throughout the history of film. Some films have glamorised or justified it, some have been an exercise in propaganda, others have been strong anti-war statements and some have just told a story with all the facts. As a genre the same tales have been told over and over, yet what has made seeing the same story different is the fact that you're usually seeing the film through a perspective of the events.
The story of The Deer Hunter is a straightforward one that revolves around a group of close-knitted friends living together in an industrial town. You'll be revealed people's love, secrets, desires and frustrations with life, all this helps to characterise the film. The story shows the life cycle of the years before and after Vietnam, ultimately showing the psychological affects of the war through cold drama.
The Deer Hunter is a film that for the first seventy-five minutes builds up the dramatic experience, it's a cinematic device used to help you understand the characters and their lives. In some way it's a trick because it makes you like (and for some dislike) the characters before they're plunged into the living hell of Vietnam causing extreme devastation to their lives forever. Even though the first part of the film has been deceived as "slow" or "laborious", I consider it a highly important aspect of the film as it helps us understand the natural reality of the character's lives before they're plunged into the war-zone. At closer look you'll notice that during this first half of the film there is a somewhat premonition of the future events that will unfold. This is all shown through a series of metaphors, scattered cunningly throughout the first half's series of events.
Because the film's characters are ones who make their living through backbreaking industrialist work they consider the opportunity of war a new hope for them. This is showing how the US government prayed on people who were grief-stricken and usually not very well off to join the army. For a film that caused questionable controversy on release from war veterans and the Vietnamese. It managed to still defy audiences with the legitimate outcry of America's isolation after Vietnam and then took away 5 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. There has always been the added controversy about the film's supposed "gay undertones" which are slyly hinted and yet not proved with any justifiable evidence.
The film uses very interesting techniques to help us understand the characters; they're generally people we can all relate to. All the flaws in human characteristics are there because we all have our problems and characters such as Stanley (wonderfully performed by John Cazale) help us realise that we can all be overwhelmed by arrogance at times. By the end of the film you'll understand that the power of true friendship is the basis of human nature, it sums up how people can stick together in even the darkest moments of existence. It's a "dog-eat-dog" world and that life is not always beautiful. The crisis of vulnerability gained during war can be alleged only by the men who survive it and when you faced with a genuine life-and-death situation only then do you really understand life. These are just some of the many examples that are detailed through The Deer Hunter.
The film's cinematography captures the spirit of natural beauty, the dirty industrial suburban town and the repulsion of the war-zone. These are all places that were nature, but were destroyed through industrialisation and the violence from war. The only place that remains the dreamlike getaway for the film's characters are the North American mountains and the glorious amount of nature and wildlife surrounding the area. The stunning glimpses of the gloomy weather clouding over America's mountains and the shots of the rivers glimmering underneath, these are shots to adore showing the joy of the photographic eye. The film rarely moves away from its foggy and overcast weather helping to set the "polluted" mood the film embraces. The clean-cut editing is very smooth and polished to the finest grain. The score is musical perfection and that recognised and hauntingly striking guitar work is admirable.
The acting is magnificent and you'll surely notice performances develop. Character's emotions and features become beautifully apparent as the film gradually moves along. Robert De Niro gives a career defining performance that has been unmatched in the emotional power and the philosophical subtext his character claims. John Savage gives a shy and overpowering performance bursting with intensity and with heart-wrenching accuracy of a human reaction. Christopher Walken gives the film's defining performance and the greatest touch, he's a character you will be instantly be fond of for his great sense of human and likable personality. And finally you have that riveting and disheartening performance from Meryl Streep.
Michael Cimino, famous for being a one-hit-wonder of cinema never managed to regain the level of exquisite direction The Deer Hunter holds and after all the critical acclaim The Deer Hunter has been given over the years he never managed to live up to hype that was expected after the film. Thankfully Michael Cimino managed to create one of the most important samples of American cinema that deserves all recognition and the must-see acclaim it has gathered.
To truly appreciate a film like The Deer Hunter it needs repeat viewings as you'll find new messages, meaning, morals and observations. Without a doubt a life-affirming piece of cinema that captures the singular beauty of the innocence in the average man and how it can be taken away through the atrocities of what adds up to "meaningless violence". Cinema is rarely this flawless in capturing the essence of life with such remorse beauty. It's tragedy through brilliance.