Writing about “The Deer Hunter” is
an intimidating prospect. The movie is, by consensus, a Work of Art,
and criticizing it is like criticizing the Mona Lisa. Anything you
write about this film says as much about you as it does about the
film (but isn't that always the case?). With that preface, here goes:
Michael Cimino wrote and directed this
three hour epic about a group of Pennsylvania steelworkers. These
guys work hard, drink hard, and go on hunting trips together. Michael
(Robert De Niro), the quiet, serious one, is the best hunter of the
group. He ranges far into the hills with his rifle, and his ethos is
to kill a deer with “1 shot.” Back in town, Michael is socially a
bit awkward when it comes to dancing at weddings and such, and he is
secretly in love with his best friend Nick's (Christopher Walken)
girlfriend, Linda (Meryl Streep).
Three of the group, Mike, Nick, and
Steven have volunteered to fight in Vietnam. There they find the
hell-on-earth that we are all familiar with from Vietnam War movies.
They are taken prisoner, and their Vietcong captors force them to
play Russian Roulette. Without giving away more than I already have,
suffice it to say that the men come away from their service with
serious scars, physical and mental.
“The Deer Hunter” is, in many
ways, an amazing film. The cinematography is beautiful. The scenes in
the steel mill and in the mountains are just stunning. The scene at
Steven's wedding is like its own little short film. In the un-rushed
way the scenes are allowed to develop, the movie feels very much like
a novel, which is ironic because it was written as a screenplay from
the beginning.
The film is also REALLY long, at just
over 3 hours. In my opinion, it is longer than it needs to be. Many
scenes are longer than necessary, and some of them, the bowling alley
scene, for example, could have been cut entirely.
Cimino has been criticized for failing
to do any actual research on POWs or to interview any Vietnam vets
when writing the film. This is reflected in the Russian Roulette
motif. While Vietnam was likely a miserable experience for most
veterans, especially POWs, there is no evidence that Russian Roulette
was part of the torture. I'm inclined to give Cimino a pass on this
point, however, as the game is such an apt metaphor for the
experience of the war itself. The randomness of death, the dread with
each risky pull of the trigger, and the sheer pointlessness of the
game would probably feel familiar to many Vets.
What I'm not prepared to give the
director a pass on is the ridiculousness of the deer hunting scenes.
You might say “The Deer Hunter” is NEITHER. The “deer” in the
footage is not a North American deer at all. It's a European red
stagg, a very different-looking animal. The “hunting” is also
ridiculous, with Michael chasing on foot after his deer, running up
and down ridges after a stagg that keeps stopping and offering him
broadside shots. Anyone who has hunted knows that it is a much
slower, methodical process. Once a real deer sees you, it will head
straight for the next county. For anyone who thinks I am being
nitpicky, I will point out that the movie is named “The Deer
Hunter.”
The film is not only made by and for
people who know nothing about deer or hunting, but people who know
nothing about American geography. Watching the movie, I was
distracted by how rugged and high the mountains looked for a story
that was set in Pennsylvania. Sure enough, the hunting scenes were
filmed in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. It's just
another example of how Cimino's lack of verisimilitude really
reflects a lack of respect for his audience.
That lack of respect culminates in the
nihilistic ending of the film. Despite its flaws, I actually enjoyed
the greater part of the movie, impressed by the novelistic character
development and storytelling. By hour 3, however, I was expecting
some kind of payoff. The ending here just makes a person ask, “What's
the point?” - of life in general, and specifically of this film.
2 stars out of 5
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