The Deer Hunter is a coming home film that shows the lives of a group of men and women before, during and after the war. The main focus of the film is on the friendship of three men who share a brotherly bond and head off to fight in the Vietnam War together.
The first hour of the film depicts the lives of the three friends as they partake in everyday activities and strengthen the bond they share. The three friends drink, go hunting in the mountains, and work together and watch as one of them, Steven, becomes married to his sweetheart. During the wedding scene, it appears that the three young men are celebrating their impending departure to Vietnam, which can be seen in the way they offer to buy the Green Beret a drink during the reception to which he replies "Fuck it.". This scene foreshadows the horrors they will encounter in war and how drastically the three men will be changed.
The rest of the film can be seen in a sharp contrast to the first hour. Throughout the first hour the main characters have a comfortable, happy, carefree life and upon their arrival in Vietnam begin experiencing the realities of war from being captured to playing Russian Roulette, to killing fellow humans. Upon their return, Michael, the one who initially spoke to the Green Beret has now turned into the Green Beret and avoids his own coming home party. Steven who is now crippled, refuses to leave the hospital because of embarrassment and feeling that he is no longer a real man. Nick is affected the most out of the three, as he stays in Vietnam and continues to gamble with his life by playing Russian Roulette.
In all, The Deer Hunter is an antiwar film due to the generalized negativity surrounding the idea of war. The strongest antiwar sentiment in the film is when "God Bless America" is sung at the end of the film. This song symbolizes the irony in the war because the war is the one that changed Michael, disfigured Steven, and killed Nick. They sing because they don't know what else to do and decide to try and return to their nationalism as a way to understand the war and everything that has happened, but they can't and end up singing halfheartedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment