The Deer Hunter follows a group of friends, and specifically three Americans, and detailes their experiences before the Vietnam war, during the war, and after the war. One of our themes this semester was coming home to find that things are no longer the same. This film absolutely exemplifies this notion when it focuses on Robert DeNiro's character of Mike.
In my opinion the first hour of the film is really like a "before" section. Its almost like a prologue that shows you how happy all the characters are. If the first hour if the "before" part of the film then the third part, when Mike comes home, is the "after" section. The firs hour of the film shows the kind of life these three friends had before they went off to the war. It seems like all three were happy and had good, albeit somewhat crazy, friends. Steven and Nick both have love interests who they seem very close to. In the first part there were, however, many references that all would not be well. Firstly they meet the Green Beret who just came back from the war. When they ask him how it is over there he says "Fuck it". Like many people would, the three friends have a skewed notion of combat and dont understand why the green beret is dissatisfied with Vietnam. They dont pay his comment any attention and probably forget it in their drunken stupor. Another indication is the killing of the deer. I think that the deer indicates their innocent personas. The deer is free and unaware of the danger it is actually in, like the friends former selves. It is shot and dies in a unflattering way. Finally I thought when Nick asks Mike if he would bring him back if anything happened to him in Vietnam, that was foreshadowing. I think this is ultimately one of the reasons why Mike decides to go back to the country and play a life or death game with Nick. He wanted to fulfill his promise and, in the end after Nick shoots himself, Mike brings his body back home.
I think this film gives a anti-war message. It showed how war negatively effects the soldiers who have to fight in it. Nobody is the same in the end and the atmosphere later in the movie is much darker than in the early parts of the film. The fact that Nick literally loses his mind and stays in Vietnam playing games of chance, like Russian Roulette, to earn money that he doesnt even need shows the negative effects of the war. Also in the middle part of The Deer Hunter, when they are actually fighting the war, it shows how war awakens peoples cruel natures. For example the North Vietnamese soldier opens a cellar with a group of hiding civilians i.e. women and children and mercilessly just throws a bomb down and kills them all. Also the film shows the kinds of things that might happen to POW. The North Vietnamese soldiers made them play Russian Roulette so they could gamble and laughed when the soldiers were shot. Overall I think this film shows war in a negative light.
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"The Deer Hunter" follows a group of friends, and detailed their experiences before the Vietnam War, during the war, and after the war. One of our themes this semester was coming home to find that things are no longer the same. This film absolutely exemplifies this notion when it shows the experience of Robert DeNiro's character of Mike.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the first hour of the film is really like a "before" section. It’s almost like a prologue that shows you how happy all the characters are. If the first hour if the "before" part of the film then the third part, when Mike comes home, is the "after" section. The first hour of the film shows the kind of life these three friends had before they went off to the war. It seems like all three were happy and had good, albeit somewhat crazy, friends. Steven and Nick both have love interests, who they seem very close to.
In the first part there were, however, many hints that all would not be well. Firstly they meet the Green Beret who just came back from the war. When they ask him how it is over there he says "Fuck it". Like many people do, the three friends have a skewed notion of combat and don't understand why the Green Beret is dissatisfied with Vietnam. They don't pay his comment any attention and probably forget it in their drunken stupor. Another indication is the killing of the deer. I think that the deer indicates their innocent persona. The deer is free and unaware of the danger it is actually in, like the friends former selves. It is shot and dies in an unflattering way, which is how their childhood innocence disappears in the war when they have to embrace death, to save their own lives in the Vietnamese prison.
I thought when Nick asks Mike if he would bring him back if anything happened to him in Vietnam, was foreshadowing. I think this is ultimately one of the reasons why Mike decides to go back to the country and play a life or death game with Nick. He wanted to fulfill his promise and, in the end after Nick shoots himself, Mike brings his body back home.
I think this film gives a anti-war message. It showed how war negatively affects the soldiers who have to participate in it. Nobody is the same in the end; the atmosphere later in the movie is visibly much darker than in the early parts of the film. The fact that Nick literally loses his mind and stays in Vietnam playing games of chance, like Russian Roulette, to earn money that he doesn't even need, show the negative effects of the war.
Also in the middle part of The Deer Hunter, when they are actually fighting the war, it shows how war awakens people’s cruel natures. For example the North Vietnamese soldier opens a cellar with a group of hiding civilians i.e. women and children, and mercilessly just throws a bomb down and kills them all. Also the film shows the kinds of things that might happen to POW. The North Vietnamese soldiers made them play Russian roulette so they could gamble and laughed when the soldiers were shot.
Finally, I think the song in the last scene of the film was sarcastically included to show the loss of the Vietnam War. Although the cast sing "God Bless America", they sing it after Nick's funeral. Since it’s sung at such a tragic part of the film, I don't think it was included to send a pro war message. Instead it shows a clear irony when they sing such an upbeat pro-American song. It’s almost like they are saying "thank you America for all the pain the Vietnam war has bestowed on us”. Overall I think this film shows war in a negative light.