Review of The Deer Hunter (1978) by Hytham E — 19 May 2012

The Deer Hunter, Great Movies.

*The Deer Hunter* is a cinematic masterwork and a hate film of gross historical distortion. Somewhere between these two subjects, it is also became a successful hit despite being focused on the loss of American innocence during the Vietnam War. It starts in a wedding ceremony like in *The Godfather*, and ends in a sad funeral scene. We meet 3 friends, Mike, Nick, and Steven, all are going to the Army for the war.

Over the course of 3 hours, going with 3 acts, the film presents strong performances and a group of remarkably intense set pieces. First up, is where we meet these characters, what is their hometown look like, what life is like on that place. Then, it is supplanted by the now much talked about POW Russian Roulette game. Ironically and with an odd note of corny patriotism, the characters toasts their tenuous connection by singing God Bless America at the final act. The sequence provides a broken-hearted, conciliatory commentary on the sad state of affairs that views the US as the source of incredible heroism, cowardice, ignorance, and blind celebration.

The movie also demonstrate how the it is a provocative domestic melodrama. It offers a bravura depiction of the Vietnam experienced channeled through individual men without concern for a wider social context. Films like *Apocalypse Now*, *Platoon*, *Full Metal Jacket*, *Born on the 4th of July*, all pictured how the Vietnam War looks like and how it affects people and group of soldiers or just one soldier. I think this tells us how painful and traumatic war is, by that theory, we now have an another Great Movies that won an Academy Award for Best Picture back in 1978.

Once again, *The Deer Hunter* will somehow treated as an anti-war and pro-war on its idealistic concept. The Russian Roulette is probably a game that I will never play even once. That's truly how a real great war movie should be, and a real great filmmaking should be!