The Deer Hunter [1978]
Director : Michael Cimino
Cast : Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale
There are a lot of Hollywood movies created taking the Vietnam war as a backdrop. The Deer Hunter is one such movie but is different in the sense that it focuses more on character development than the actual war scenario. Based on a small town in America, the movie starts with the introduction of a group of town dwellers who are hard-working as well as hard-partying and whose favorite pass-time is hunting deer. Three people of the group are enlisted in the army and are bound to go to Vietnam. The war, their capture, the game of life - Russian Roulette, their escape, the consequences and the changes in their mentality and life as a whole is the movie. Each of the three men loose something valuable in the war and their happy -go-lucky attitude changes drastically into something which changes their way of life.
The story is good and the acting exceptional. But it did not appeal to me as a movie. The movie is very long in my opinion (3 hours). I do not have problem with long movies. But aimless long movies are the ones which I hate. The screen time is increased in the name of character development which was unnecessary IMO. (And the movie has got an Oscar for best editing.). This is not the only problem I have with the movie. It's treatment of the Vietnam war is completely one-sided, tilted towards America. I have a keen interest in history and I felt there was injustice against the Vietnamese. The acting in the movie perhaps is the thing that makes 3 hours endurable. DeNiro and Walken are the stand-out performers. Walken is a very under-rated actor IMO and this is perhaps his best acting stint. He overshadows Deniro in some scenes. Meryl Streep has done a fine job. John Savage is also noteworthy .This movie is rated very highly by movie lovers and I may hurt their sentiments by this review. But this is my honest opinion after one viewing and it may not change ever (Because I cannot give 3 hours of my life again for this movie)
Rating : 5/10
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.