The Deer Hunter (1978) Directed by Michael Cimino Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond

The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter Retro Review- The Best Depiction of the Effects of War On A Soldier and Their Community Ever Put to Film

Michael Cimino is a director not a lot of people are familiar with. He has made a few films in his career of some note. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Heaven’s Gate were known, but he directed one film that touched the public consciousness like no other back in the ‘70s. At the time, it was the best portrayed of the effects of war on soldiers and their community. It still stands up as one of the…

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Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)

Cast: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspregen, Shirley Stoler, Rutanya Alda, Pierre Segui. Screenplay: Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K. Redeker. Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond. Art direction: Ron Hobbs, Kim Swados. Film editing: Peter Zinner. Music: Stanley Myers. 

The last time I watched The Deer Hunter it had a different resonance for me. It was no longer a film about the Vietnam War, but instead a film about the destruction of the American industrial working class. Who is willing to bet that the steel mill in which Michael (Robert De Niro) and his buddies work is still open? And who can doubt that the group singing "God Bless America" at the film's end, and their progeny, all voted for Donald Trump, responding to his "Make America Great Again" call and helping him carry the state of Pennsylvania? The Deer Hunter didn't even start out to be a film about Vietnam: The germ of it was a screenplay by Louis Garfinkle and Quinn Redeker about people who bet on Russian roulette in Las Vegas. Michael Cimino was brought on to direct and to develop the script with Deric Washburn. Many drafts, arguments, and hurt feelings later, it had become a film about steelworker buddies who go off to Vietnam, and the Russian roulette had become first a torture method used by the Viet Cong and then a device to symbolize the destructive effect of the war on the American psyche. It remains the most controversial part of the film -- there are many who assert that Russian roulette was seldom, if ever, used as torture or for gambling in the back streets of Saigon -- but there's no denying its dramatic potency or the larger symbolic role it plays. The great strength of the film lies not in its screenplay but in its performances, starting with De Niro, whose Michael is the embodiment of Hemingwayesque "grace under pressure." De Niro was also responsible for the casting of Meryl Streep as Linda, a small role in which she does what she can to offset the machismo in which the film is awash, and which earned her the first of her record-setting string of Oscar nominations. Along with Streep came her lover, John Cazale, whom the producers wanted to fire because he was dying of cancer and was hence uninsurable, but Streep refused to appear without him. Christopher Walken did win an Oscar as Nick, and there are memorable performances from John Savage and George Dzundza as well. It's the strength of this ensemble that keeps the film from flying out of control as Cimino's follow-up, Heaven's Gate (1980), so disastrously did. Certainly there are signs in The Deer Hunter of Cimino's self-indulgence, particularly the overextended exuberance of the wedding reception scene, which anticipates the out-of-control Harvard commencement sequence in Heaven's Gate. Neither scene adds measurably to the narrative or the themes of its respective film, but Cimino bitterly fought all efforts to trim the wedding sequence in the editing process, and later claimed, after editor Peter Zinner won an Oscar, that he had edited the film himself. Because of its sloppiness and self-indulgence, I hesitate to call The Deer Hunter a great film, but it's certainly one in touch with the darkest strain of recent American history.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Casey Affleck, swamp pop singer Rod Bernard, Sid Bernstein, Joe Besser, Cantinflas, John Cazale, Kid Creole, Del The Funky Homosapien,  Cecil B. DeMille, Leslie Duncan, George Hamilton, Roy Hay, Heintje, Mark Knopfler, Greg Langston (The Next, No Alternative), Ron Mael, Tiny McCloud, Pat Metheny, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Alexei Nikolaevich, Peter Ostroushko, Buck Owens, Marjorie Reynolds, Erwin Alexander Schrödinger, Lakeith Stanfield, Matt Thiessen (Reliant K), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Mladen Vukic, Porter Wagoner, Deborah Walley, Wednesday 13, Jane Wyatt, and recording artist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Derrek Van Eaton. Classic rock-philes and deep Beatles fans will recognize him from the brother band Lon & Derrek Van Eaton. John Lennon and George Harrison “discovered” them and signed them to Apple Records. Their excellent BROTHER album was co-produced by George with Klaus Voorman and launched a long association with George, Ringo Starr, Nilsson, and other legends in the Apple story. The brothers went on to become studio session favorites under producer Richard Perry, who hired them for recordings with Art Garfunkel, Martha Reeves, and Carly Simon. As a duo, the Van Eaton brothers have released sporadic works (notably their acclaimed 1996 cover of “Apple of my Eye” on the COME & GET IT Badfinger tribute album), and they’re still active in musical and spiritual pursuits. I met Derrek some years ago in church and picked his brains about a 1972 L&DVE concert Huntingdon PA that I stood outside at (I was but a lad with no ticket money). The last time Derrek and I crossed paths was at a Monkees concert in Denver. Even in passing conversation I can see the creative spark in Derrek’s eyes. Here’s one of my favorite Van Eaton cuts “Sun Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5VSJmb2VI0 ...Meanwhile, HB DVE and thank you for your years of remarkable creativity and soul.

#derrekvaneaton #lonanderrekvaneaton #brother #applerecords #birthday #georgeharrison #ringostarr #klausvoorman #richardperry #peteham #badfinger

btw, George died and Paul is pregnant John Cazale by Victor Boullet Drawings Feb – March 2024 Kunsthandler Christian Torp Bryggetorget 3, 0250 Oslo @christiantorp_oslo photo@freinar

Mugshot of John Wojtowicz, who unsuccessfully tried to rob a bank in 1972 to pay for his wife Eden's gender reassignment surgery. Apparently, Wojtowicz had based his plans on the movie, "The Godfather" (1972), which he had watched earlier that day.

2,000 onlookers, FBI, roof-top snipers, TV crew, and police all gathered at the Chase Manhattan bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn on a hot summer night. Wojtowicz held 7 hostages for 14 hours during which time he demanded food for the hostages, paid the pizza delivery boy wads of cash, threw money at the outside onlookers, shot through the bank's exit rear door (fearing the police would storm it), and accidentally fired a shot after dropping his rifle on the floor. In the end, his robbery attempt failed, and he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison, of which he served five.

Wojtowicz's story was later turned into a movie called "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), starring Al Pacino and John Cazale, both of whom, interestingly enough, had starred in "The Godfather." For the rights to his story, Wojtowicz was paid $7,500 and 1% of the movie's net profits, which he gave to Eden.

After her operation, Eden married someone else before dying of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987. Wojtowicz attended her funeral and delivered a eulogy.

Wojtowicz was bisexual and had multiple lovers, both male and female, at the time of the robbery. He even called some of them from the bank and asked for their advice. One of them was a prison inmate named George Heath, who later wrote a book about their relationship.

Wojtowicz was very charismatic and popular with the hostages, the media, and the public. He entertained the hostages with jokes and stories, gave interviews to reporters, and even kissed his male lover in front of the cameras. He also demanded that his mother be brought to the scene, and she tried to persuade him to surrender.

This anti-war film from 1978 tells the story of three Americans of Russian descent who work in a steel mill and are just one of the many unfortunates drawn into the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and George Dzundza. Won five Oscars and was nominated for four more.

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 7 / 10

Título Original: The Deer Hunter

Año: 1978

Duración: 183 min

País: Estados Unidos  

Director: Michael Cimino

Guion: Deric Washburn. Historia: Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K. Redeker  

Música: Stanley Myers

Fotografía: Vilmos Zsigmond

Reparto: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren, Amy Wright, Joe Grifasi, Rutanya Alda, Shirley Stoler, Mady Kaplan, Richard Kuss, Paul D'Amato

Productora: EMI Films, Universal Pictures. Distribuidora: Universal Pictures

Género: Drama, War

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416/

TRAILER:

By extension.... my obsession with men who nobody remembers that contributed to a significant cultural movement and then died of lung cancer

Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' trilogy on Peacock

Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’ trilogy on Peacock

“It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s bestseller remains the great American epic of the immigrant dream turned family business. Al Pacino stars as Michael Corleone, the clean-cut white sheep and patriotic soldier boy son of New York Godfather Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando in an Oscar–winning performance), and this dark side of the American…

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Here’s a preview of my illustration for the Gobelins exhibition Chansons Françaises (the opening is tomorrow May 16th). This is based on Brassens’ song Les amoureux des bancs publics  🌳 

The Deer Hunter (1978); AFI #53

The next film up for review is one of the most powerful war films of all time, Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978). The movie has 3 defined acts (before the war, during the war, after the war) and each one makes for a powerful story. The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won 5 of them including Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. This is some of the best early work of Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, Robert DeNiro, and John Savage. The film is also Michael Cimino's best work (arguably only good work) and truly influential on how the American public viewed the effects of war on soldiers. I want to give the movie the full breakdown, and it starts, of course, with a little bit of plot...

SPOILER WARNING! THERE IS A LOT TO THIS MOVIE AND THIS REVIEW WILL GIVE AWAY THE WHOLE THING INCLUDING THE RATHER SURPRISING ENDING!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

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The film is divided into 3 single acts of about an hour each. It starts in late 1968, where three friends in Western Pennsylvania—Mike Vronsky (Robert De Niro), Steven Pushkov (John Savage) and Nick Chevotarevich (Christopher Walken)—work in a steel mill and hunt for deer with their co-workers Axel (Chuck Aspegren) and Stan (John Cazale), and bartender friend John (George Dzundza). They all belong to a tight-knit Slavic American community. Mike, Steven, and Nick are preparing to leave for military service in Vietnam. Steven is engaged to Angela, who is secretly impregnated by another man. Mike and Nick are close friends who live together and both love Linda (Meryl Streep), who will be moving into their home to escape from her abusive and alcoholic father. During Steven and Angela's wedding, Nick asks for Linda's hand in marriage, and she accepts. As the newlyweds drive away, Nick asks Mike to not abandon him in Vietnam.

The nervousness about what will happen in Vietnam is palpable. Mike has always been the binding of the group and he is a sure shot when it comes to hunting, something that could come in handy during times of war. The group is safe as long as Mike is around, so they all decide to do one more hunt before leaving. Mike, Nick and their friends drive out to the woods (Stan and Nick having the best hats on the planet) to settle things before leaving. There is some truly beautiful cinematography up in the hills and Mike makes a stand saying he is not going to be there to watch over his friends anymore (especially Stan). As is his custom, Mike fires a single shot, which successfully takes a deer. They all go back to the bar to get wasted and John plays the piano with Stan looking sadly on. This ends the first act.

Hard cut to an exploding village in Vietnam in early 1969, where Mike is suddenly reunited with Nick and Steven when they are captured by the Viet Cong. They are imprisoned in a cage along a river and forced to rotate participating in a torturous game of Russian roulette (putting one bullet in a revolver and firing it at your head in hopes that it is a blank) against other prisoners while the jailers place bets. This is very hard to watch and might be a point in which some might want to skip forward. Steven yields to fear and exhaustion and fires his round at the ceiling. As punishment for breaking the rules, Steven is thrown into a separate cage (a "water dungeon") that is immersed in a river filled with rats and dead bodies. Mike convinces Nick to attempt an escape by inserting three rounds into the revolver's cylinder; after convincing their tormentors with the increased risk, they kill the captors (they give him a partially loaded revolver) and free Steven from the cage.

Making their escape, the three float along the river's current on a large tree trunk. When they reach a suspension bridge, they are rescued by an American helicopter, but Steven is extremely weak and falls into the water. Mike immediately jumps in to save Steven, while Nick is held back by the helicopter crew. Steven's legs are broken in the fall (this is really gross), and Mike carries him until they meet a caravan of South Vietnamese soldiers and refugees fleeing to Saigon. Nick is admitted to a U.S. military hospital for physical and psychological trauma. It is obvious that Nick has been mentally damaged and needs help, but he is sent out of the hospital since he has no physical injury. Once released, Nick ventures into Saigon. In his wandering, he hears gunshots emanating from a gambling den and attempts to leave, reminded of his previous torture experience. However, French businessman Julien Grinda (Pierre Segul) persuades him to come inside and play for him. Nick rebuffs Julien and insults the participants by interrupting a game of roulette by pulling the trigger on the gun and grabbing a stack of cash. Mike happens to be present in the den as a spectator and recognizes Nick, but he is unsuccessful in getting his attention as Nick and Julien hurriedly leave, with Nick throwing the cash into the streets. There is a hard cut and that is the end of act two.

Another time jump to 1970. Mike returns home but immediately has difficulty reintegrating into civilian life. He fails to appear at a welcome-home party organized by Linda and friends, opting instead to stay alone overnight in a hotel up the highway. He visits Linda the next morning and learns that Nick has deserted. Mike then visits Angela, who is now the mother of a child, but has slipped into catatonia following the return of Steven, who has been rendered an invalid. Stan, Axel and John remained stateside and their distance with Mike is evident, as they seem to understand nothing of war or what Mike has gone through. Linda and Mike find comfort in each other's company, but only because of the friend they both think they have lost. The following days further prove Mike's disorientation; he is unable to shoot a deer during a hunting trip and is later outraged to see Stan jokingly threatening Axel with a handgun. To make Stan understand the gravity of his gesture, Mike violently grabs the gun out of Stan's hand. Leaving one round in the cylinder, Mike points the gun at Stan's forehead and pulls the trigger on an empty chamber.

Mike visits Steven at a veterans' hospital; both of Steven's legs have been amputated, and he has lost the use of an arm. Steven refuses to come home, saying he no longer fits in. He tells Mike that he has been regularly receiving large sums of money from Vietnam. Mike suspects that Nick is the source of these payments, and forces Steven to return home to Angela. Mike returns to Vietnam in search of Nick. Wandering around Saigon, which is now in a state of chaos shortly before its fall, Mike finds Julien and persuades him to take him to the gambling den. Mike finds himself facing Nick, who has become a professional in the macabre game and fails to recognize Mike. Mike attempts to bring Nick back to reason, but Nick, who is now a heroin addict, is indifferent. During a game of Russian roulette, Mike invokes memories of their hunting trips. Nick recalls Mike's "one shot" method and smiles before pulling the trigger and killing himself as Mike tearfully looks on.

Mike and his friends attend Nick's funeral, and the atmosphere at their local bar is dim and silent. Moved by emotion, John begins to sing "God Bless America" in honor of Nick, as everyone joins in.

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One thing that director Cimino was accused of is glorifying suicide and basically portraying the Vietnamese people of being back-alley murderers. There was a sudden rise in stupid suicides by gunshot following this movie. Of all the times I have defended violence in film, the Russian roulette is not something that I can condone. This was not something that people were doing before the film, and it had a sudden jump in victims immediately after the film. It is a testament to the power of the movie and the influence on the American public. The biggest controversy is that there were no recorded cases of Russian roulette in Vietnam, especially as a form of torture. Cimino claimed that he had been inspired by an article, but nothing was ever produced. The director, actors, and many critics (including Roger Ebert) defended artistic license, but it would definitely not fly in today's political climate.

The portrayal of how bad it is for soldiers coming home and how awkward it is with those who stayed behind is amazing. I think that Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro did an absolutely fantastic job, especially conveying that initial meeting. How do you react to somebody who is not the same person who left? It is obvious that both characters are very different people. And what do you do when you fight to come home to a woman that you love, and she is committed to somebody else? It is painful.

I again want to point out John Cazale in the role of Stanley. He was not one of the leads, but he played that crony who needs to follow to feel safe. Stan wants to be the big man in charge, but he is not, and he never will be. It is sad that the actor was dying of lung cancer for the entire shoot and those fearful stares are quite real. He was dating Meryl Streep and the whole funeral scene took on so much more meaning. Rest in peace Mr. Cazale, you did a great job.

There was a lot of difficulty with post-production because the director wanted to keep everything he shot. That's right, the movie was cut down to only a little over three hours. On review, it seems like there are a whole lot of establishing shots that were not needed and a lot of just spoken plot (especially from the mother of Steven at the beginning of the film) that was blurted out quickly. The movie was well acted, and the story and cinematography were great, but I am still not that sure about the direction.

That last shot that kills Nick still bothers me. The funeral also bothers me. We go from a pregnant woman in a wedding all the way to a funeral. It is the story of life created to life lost in a very short time span and it is pretty much all the low points that happened in between. The last person to leave the funeral is John Cazale and he apparently died within a couple weeks of shooting the scene. I do not enjoy this film and it makes me sad, but I also know that it is a triumph of acting and filming. The story is very linear with little as far subversion with the exception of the Russian roulette results.

So, does this movie belong on the AFI list? It had quite the influence and it exemplifies some of the best acting put to film. The music is beautiful and the cinematography is great. It definitely deserves a spot, but I feel that it was somewhat overrated as far as story and directing. Would I recommend it? Not really. It is a good film with powerful performances, but it is not a fun watch. I don't feel like I have ever watched the film and come out thinking I was glad I checked it out. If you want to check it out, it will likely affect you. But I don't think it will be fun to watch.