Cimino’s film, The Deer Hunter, depicts the horrors of the Vietnam War and the effect it had on both those in the war and at home. The Deer Hunter is a coming home film, showing the lives of men and women before, during, and after the war. The film primarily focuses on three friends who are sent to Vietnam, having been separated from their loved ones and friends at home. Cimino displays patriotism throughout the film by injecting ideas of serving and dying for one’s country, national identity, and national pride.
The first hour of the film shows the home life of a group of male friends who work together, drink together, and hunt together. They are always with a group of females and one of the couples is married in the film, depicted by an extensive wedding scene. The viewer receives a firm understanding of the characters’ home lives. At some points in the film, it as though they are celebrating the service the men will do for their country. The rest of the film is contrasted to the first hour because after returning from the war, the Joyce celebration, or the wedding, is over. The movie introduces the time in Vietnam by showing a disturbing Russian Roulette Scene where the three friends that have been sent to Vietnam are captured. Robert De Niro’s character, Michael, saves the situation by gambling their lives and adding more bullets into the gun during Russian roulette. This meant he could surprise the guards and shoot them all. When the rest of the men are beginning to surrender and submit to death, Michael maintains his sanity. Michael returns home in the most stable conditions out of the three men; one of the men, Nick, never makes it home. Although at first Michael appears to be stable, he is tormented by his experiences during the war, notably due to the Russian roulette game. Nick, suffering the most from the war, becomes obsessed with Russian roulette and stays in Vietnam to play the game. His addiction to the game leads to his death when Michael returns to Vietnam to bring him home. This takes a heavy toll on the group back at home, accompanied by Steven’s loss of his legs. When Michael takes Steven home from the hospital, he says, “I don’t fit in”. His words can be seen as a saying for the large majority of men coming home from the war with a loss of limb or other disfigurement. This contrasts the beginning of the film when the characters were engaged in physical activity, such as hunting and dancing. The lives of the characters are forever changed because of the war.
Cimino adds pro-American sentiment to the film, dissimilar from many films and books of the same genre. American flag banners and American symbols are visible throughout the wedding scene with a general emphasis among the characters to have pride and serve their country. When in rehab, a military doctor asks Nick a question: “Chevotarevich, is that a Russian Name”? Nick responds, “No, It’s an American name”. Nick chooses to show his pride in the country by referring to his name as “American”. In the last scene of the movie the group drinks to Nick, and then begins to sing God Bless America. The film does not take a firm stance on the politics of the war, but Cimino makes the film pro-America. The Deer Hunter was pro-war in the sense that one should support his country despite the endeavor. The director shows the tragedies of the war as a worthy cause for serving one’s country, not as though there is a moral obligation to sacrifice their lives in the war for political reasons.
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Cimino’s film, The Deer Hunter, depicts the horrors of the Vietnam War and the effect it had on both those in the war and at home. The Deer Hunter is a coming home film, showing the lives of men and women before, during, and after the war. The film primarily focuses on three friends who are sent to Vietnam, having been separated from their loved ones and friends at home. Cimino displays patriotism throughout the film by injecting ideas of serving and dying for one’s country, national identity, and national pride.
ReplyDeleteThe first hour of the film foreshadows that something horrible is going to happen to the group. The attitude of the three friends shows that they are not taking the war seriously. The idea of “one shot” shows their overbearing confidence and cockiness going into the war. To the boys, the war is the ultimate hunting trip. They believe hunting the Vietnamese is just their ultimate hunting trip. The tragedy is foreshadowed by the Green Beret sitting at the bar. All he will say is “fuck it”. He shows no ambition or interest in anything. He is disinterested in the men and most likely insulted by their arrogance. He shows what the three men will turn into.
The first hours of the film shows the home life of a group of male friends who work together, drink together, and hunt together. They are always with a group of females; one of the couples is married in the film, depicted by an extensive wedding scene. The viewer receives a firm understanding of the characters’ home lives. At some points in the film, it as though they are celebrating the service the men will do for their country. The rest of the film is contrasted to the first hour because after returning from the war, the Joyce celebration, or the wedding, is over. The movie introduces the time in Vietnam by showing a disturbing Russian roulette scene where the three friends that have been sent to Vietnam are captured. Robert De Niro’s character, Michael, saves the situation by gambling their lives and adding more bullets into the gun during Russian roulette. This meant he could surprise the guards and shoot them all. When the rest of the men are beginning to surrender and submit to death, Michael maintains his sanity. Michael returns home in the most stable conditions out of the three men; one of the men, Nick, never makes it home. Although at first Michael appears to be stable, he is tormented by his experiences during the war, notably due to the Russian roulette game. Nick, suffering the most from the war, becomes obsessed with Russian roulette and stays in Vietnam to play the game. His addiction to the game leads to his death when Michael returns to Vietnam to bring him home. This takes a heavy toll on the group back at home, accompanied by Steven’s loss of his legs. When Michael takes Steven home from the hospital, he says, “I don’t fit in”. His words can be seen as a saying for the large majority of men coming home from the war with a loss of limb or other disfigurements. This contrasts the beginning of the film when the characters were engaged in physical activity, such as hunting and dancing. The lives of the characters are forever changed because of the war.
Cimino adds pro-American sentiment to the film, dissimilar from many films and books of the same genre. American flag banners and American symbols are visible throughout the wedding scene with a general emphasis among the characters to have pride and serve their country. When in rehab, a military doctor asks Nick a question: “Chevotarevich, is that a Russian Name”? Nick responds, “No, It’s an American name”. Nick chooses to show his pride in the country by referring to his name as “American”. In the last scene of the movie the group drinks to Nick, and then begins to sing God Bless America. The film does not take a firm stance on the politics of the war, but Cimino makes the film pro-America. The Deer Hunter was pro-war in the sense that one should support his country despite the endeavor. The director shows the tragedies of the war as a worthy cause for serving one’s country, not as though there is a moral obligation to sacrifice their lives in the war for political reasons.
ReplyDeleteRussian roulette serves to show how the Vietnamese are killing themselves, not just in battle, but in society. They are being killed by their own kind as a form of gambling and fun, displaying the randomness of the war. The Russian roulette motif first starts off as a form of torture for the Americans. Russian roulette ties together the entire movie. It not only shows the anarchy and disorganization in the American army and what has happened to its soldiers during the war, but also shows what has happened to the Vietnamese army and society during the war. This form of torture was not supposed to be done by the army. Both the Americans and Vietnamese suffer from the game, showing how both countries are divided by the war and its chaos.