Review of The Deer Hunter (1978) by Giridhar C — 14 Mar 2011

Just like so many Best Picture Oscar winners, The Deer Hunter is way too long and built to create the biggest emotional response in its audience that it can. At the same time it's also bursting with wonderful performances and tells a satisfying and engrossing tale of characters in extreme situations who must overcome the odds.

The film is structured in a linear fashion, utilising three acts of around an hour each to tell the story of a trio of hardworking Russian-Americans preparing to embark on a tour of duty in Vietnam. Director Michael Cimino thus splits the film accordingly into the build up to Vietnam, the horrors of the war itself, and finally the return home where our heroes must assimilate back into their mundane everyday lives. This simple structuring works largely in the film's favour, juxtaposing the differences in both the circumstances and the characters themselves in the most effective way, while also reducing any potential confusion for the viewer as the story does cover a substantial timeframe. However despite how evenly Cimino divides the time between the acts, he's actually created a rather uneven film. Scenes tend to be overlong and certain sequences, for example the wedding scene in Act 1, drag on to a point where one is forced to wonder if it will ever end. Compare this to the excruciatingly brilliant Russian roulette sequence in Act 2, as well as the emotionally moving events in Act 3, and The Deer Hunter reveals itself to be a rather inconsistent movie. On top of this the story is disappointingly predictable; it didn't take long to work out which of the trio would crack under the pressures of the front line first, and who was going to end up getting it on with who once back in America.

One area where it does achieve consistency is the acting. Robert DeNiro leads the cast with yet another of the many incredible performances he gave throughout the seventies and early eighties. His portrayal of Michael sets the tone for the film, providing a strong central figure for the audience to latch on to. However it's the supporting players that really steal the show. In her first major role, Meryl Streep shows that even at a young age she was destined to become the Hollywood giant she is today. Her performance as Linda is a quiet one, but as is so often the case with Streep, it's incredibly believable, and really aides in heightening the intensity of the final act of the movie. However it's Christopher Walken who makes the biggest impression. Playing Nick, we witness his transformation from a hardworking and happy young man to a thrill-seeking broken ex-soldier, experiencing war wounds that cut deeper than lost limbs. It's a brilliant performance that sets the film even further apart from its peers as an intensely moving experience.

Of course I couldn't review The Deer Hunter without commenting on the once-controversial Russian roulette scenes. At the time of the film's release it was noted that there were no recorded instances of Russian roulette being played during the Vietnam war. Cimino countered these claims by emphasising the fact that this is a work of fiction not claiming to be a historically accurate recreation of Vietnam. Most critics sided with Cimino, viewing the deadly game's use as a metaphor for the random violence of war, rather than as a contrived fabrication to create some extra thrills. The fact is The Deer Hunter is much more a film about humans and their responses to the horrors of war than it is a film about war itself. These scenes are crucial to the characters and their differing fates, and above anything else, they are butt-clenchingly tense, providing the most memorable sequence in the whole movie.

As such I found The Deer Hunter an enjoyable film. Despite its length and predictability issues, this is a brilliantly acted, well-directed and bold film that deserves its place in the canon of what the Academy deem to be a Best Picture.