The Deer Hunter

***The Deer Hunter*** is a 1978 American epic war drama film.

## Synopsis

An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

## Plot

In the small working class town of Clairton, Pennsylvania, in late 1967, steel workers Mike Vronsky, Steven Pushkov, and Nick Chevotarevich, with the support of their friends and co-workers Stan and Peter "Axel" Axelrod and local bar owner and friend John Welsh, prepare for two rites of passage: marriage and military service. Mike is a serious but unassuming leader; Steven the groom-to-be, pecked-at by his mother; and Nick the introspective man who loves deer hunting.

Before the trio ships out, Steven and his girlfriend Angela marry in a Russian Orthodox wedding. Mike works to control his feelings for Nick's girlfriend Linda. At the wedding reception held at the local VFW hall, the guys drink, dance, sing, and enjoy the festivities, but then notice a soldier in a U.S. Army Special Forces uniform. Mike attempts to ask what Vietnam is like, but the soldier ignores him. After Mike explains that he, Steven, and Nick are going to Vietnam, the Green Beret raises his glass and says "fuck it". After being restrained from starting a fight, Mike goes back to the bar and raises his glass and toasts him with "fuck it". The soldier glances over at Mike and grins.

Later, Steven and Angela drink from conjoined goblets, a traditional part of the Orthodox wedding ceremony. It is believed that if they drink without spilling any wine, they will have good luck for life. Two drops of blood-red wine unknowingly spill on her wedding gown. After Linda catches the bride's bouquet, Nick asks her to marry him, and she agrees. Later that night, a drunken Mike runs through the town, stripping himself naked along the way. After Nick chases him down, he begs Mike not to leave him "over there" if anything happens in combat. The next day, Mike, Nick, Stan, John, and Axel go deer hunting one last time. Mike is exasperated by his friends, especially Stan, who drinks and clowns, showing little respect for the ritual of hunting, which to Mike is a nearly sacred experience. Only Nick understands Mike's attitude, but he is more indulgent toward his friends. Mike goes hunting afterwards and kills a deer with one clean shot.

The friends return to Welsh's bar, with Michael's deer strapped to the hood of the car. They enter rambunctiously, spraying beers over each other and singing loudly. Welsh then makes his way to the piano and begins playing Chopin's Nocturne No. 6 Op. 15-3.

In Vietnam, U.S. helicopters attack a village. An unconscious Mike (now a Staff Sergeant in the Special Forces) wakes up to see an NVA soldier shoot a woman carrying a baby. Mike kills him with a flamethrower. Meanwhile, a unit of UH-1 "Huey" helicopters drops off several U.S. infantrymen, Nick and Steven among them. Mike, Steven, and Nick unexpectedly find each other just before they are captured and held in a prisoner of war camp. For entertainment, the guards force the prisoners to play Russian roulette and gamble on the outcome. All three friends are forced to play. Steven plays against Mike, who offers moral support, but Steven breaks down and points the gun upwards whilst pulling the trigger, grazing himself with the bullet when it discharges. As punishment, the guards put him into an underwater cage full of rats and dead bodies. Mike and Nick hatch a plan to escape by playing against each other, with Mike convincing the guards to let them play Russian roulette with three bullets in the gun. After a tense match, they kill their captors and escape.

After killing the guards, Mike rescues Steven. The three float downriver on a tree limb. An American helicopter finds them, but only Nick is able to climb aboard. The weakened Steven falls back into the water, and Mike plunges in the water to rescue him. Mike helps Steven to reach the river bank, but Steven's legs are broken, so Mike carries him through the jungle to friendly lines. Approaching a caravan of locals escaping the war zone, Mike stops a South Vietnamese military truck and places the wounded Steven on it, asking the soldiers to take care of him.

Nick recuperates in a military hospital in Saigon with no knowledge of his friends. After being released, he goes AWOL and aimlessly stumbles through the red-light district at night. He encounters Julien Grinda, a Frenchman, outside a gambling den where men play Russian roulette for money. Grinda entices the reluctant Nick to participate and leads him into the den. Mike is present in the den, watching the game, but the two friends do not notice each other at first. When Mike does see Nick, he is unable to get his attention. When Nick is introduced into the game, he grabs the gun, fires it at the current contestant, and then again at his own temple, causing the audience to riot in protest. Grinda hustles Nick outside to his car to escape the angry mob. Mike cannot catch up with them as they speed away.

Back in the U.S., Mike maintains a low profile. He tells a cab driver to drive past the house where all his friends are waiting, as he is embarrassed by the fuss Linda and the others have made. He visits Linda the following day and grows close to her, but only because of the friend they both think they have lost. Mike goes to visit Angela at Steven's mother's home. Angela is barely responsive. When asked by Mike about Steven's whereabouts, she writes a phone number on a scrap of paper, which leads Mike to the local VA hospital where Steven has been for several months. Mike goes hunting with Axel, John, and Stan one more time, and after tracking a deer across the woods, but fires into the air. He then sits on a rock escarpment and yells out, "OK?", which echoes back at him. He also berates Stan for carrying around a small revolver and waving it around, not realizing it is loaded. Mike visits Steven, who has lost both of his legs and is partially paralyzed. Steven reveals that someone in Saigon has been mailing large amounts of money to him, and Mike is convinced that it is Nick. Mike brings a reluctant Steven home to Angela and then travels to Saigon just before its fall in 1975.

He tracks down Grinda, who has made a lot of money from the Russian roulette-playing Nick. He finds Nick in a crowded gambling club, but Nick appears to have no recollection of his friends or his home. Mike enters the game of Russian roulette against Nick, hoping to jog his memory and persuade him to come home, but Nick's mind is gone. To keep him from taking another turn, Mike grabs Nick's arms, which are covered in scars. At the last moment, after Mike reminds Nick of their hunting trips together, Nick recognizes Mike and smiles. Nick raises the gun to his temple, and pulls the trigger, killing himself. Mike tries reviving him, but to no avail.

Back home in 1975, the friends have gathered for Nick's funeral, whom Mike has brought home, staying good to his promise. Mike toasts in Nick's honor.