The Deer Hunter: 1978

When I began watching The Deer Hunter, I found myself frustrated with the long scenes of Steven and Angela's wedding. From what I could tell, the story was about these six friends who liked to drink, a lot. I didn't see the point in these long, drawn-out scenes for developing character. The scenes before and after the wedding seemed more helpful than these particular ones.

By the end, I still hadn't figured out why those wedding scenes were so long, and even as I write this a day after finishing the film, I'm still not sure. But what I have thought about the purpose of the film. Initially, the purpose seemed to be to explore how friendships impact us and how true friendships last even in difficult times. After thinking about it more, the film seems to be more about how hopeless we feel in so many aspects of our lives, but in the end, giving up hope is not the answer. Giving up is never the answer.

Through a gruesome experience as POWs in the Vietnam War, three of the six friends have their mental, emotional, and physical states tested. Michael, played by the immensely talented Robert DeNiro, is clearly the strongest before the war and remains so as the men are forced to play Russian Roulette against each other. Steven, played by John Savage, already shows signs of PTSD, and Savage stunned me with his talent. Physically, Steven is shaking all over, desperate to pull himself together but completely incapable. Savage made me forget he was playing a role...that's how real he seemed as a man on the edge of sanity. Nick, the third friend played by Christopher Walken, isn't holding himself together well, but he's not as bad as Steven. As their fellow prisoners die in round after round, these three survive, and Michael manages to figure out a way for all three to escape. The moment I questioned his loyalty to friends happens in this situation, as Michael originally tells Nick to forget about Steven, that he's too far gone for them to save. Without spoiling any more (although this is only halfway through the film and with a three-hour film, there's still a lot to go), Michael makes up for what he says here much later in the film when Steven needs saving again.

DeNiro, Savage, and Walken are not the only talents in this film. Meryl Streep plays Linda, Nick's girl back home. Streep is subtle with her performance. We clearly see how she doesn't understand what these men are about to experience, and when reunited with some, her compassion mixes with her fear. Linda feels honestly, a trait that Streep portrays so smoothly. Through Linda and the other characters' reactions to the war, we understand better what it must have been like for soldiers returning home and their loved ones trying to figure out how best to handle them. That seems to present another purpose for the film: to honestly portray what Vietnam was like for the soldiers before going, while in Vietnam fighting, and after returning home. I've seen a handful of other films with segments or entire plots involving the Vietnam War, but I don't think I've seen one that seems as real as this one. Perhaps the film has that authenticity because it was filmed so close to the end of the war.

The Deer Hunter is long but worth watching just to see the talent on screen and to consider what it's actually about.