The Deer Hunter

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For the video game, see Deer Hunter (video game).

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 film which tells the story of how the Vietnam War affects the people in the industrial town of Clairton, Pennsylvania just south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River (although it was also filmed in Cleveland and Mingo Junction, Ohio). It stars Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and George Dzundza.

Plot

The story is essentially told in three acts. De Niro (Mike), Savage (Steven), Walken (Nick) and Cazale (Stanley) portray American factory workers and avid deer hunters of Rusyn ancestry. The first act of the film covers the shotgun wedding of Steven and Angela (pregnant with another man's child), during which it is implied that Angela had been raped by Nick. Following a final deer hunting trip, Steven, Mike, and Nick leave for a combat tour in Vietnam, almost longing for combat, to go where "the bullets are flyin'." Before leaving, Mike had promised Nick he would not leave him behind should something happen to him during their tour. In the second act, the three end up on a river in a pontoon prison of the Viet Cong where they are forced to play Russian Roulette for the gambling amusement of their captors. Mike engineers an escape (although at first considers having to abandon Steven) and kills their captors, but the rescue helicopter is only able to bring aboard Nick; Mike and Steven are forced back into the river, only to come ashore later. Steven's legs are rife with infection from his time in the "pit" in the prison, so Mike carries him and eventually is able to find other soldiers who get him medical treatment. Mike then continues his tour of duty and eventually returns home alone in what begins the third act. Nick suffers a breakdown in a hospital in Vietnam where he is unable to remember his parents' names. He is eventually released back into military service in Vietnam but he goes AWOL, taking up with a Frenchman who promises him riches if he participates in Russian Roulette competitions. After reuniting with Steven, who has had his legs and left arm amputated and is recovering in a Veterans' Administration hospital, Mike discovers that Nick has remained behind in Vietnam. Mike travels to Saigon immediately prior to its fall in 1975 where he learns that Nick has become champion at the deadly game of Russian Roulette. He is reunited with Nick, but his best friend now appears to be addicted to heroin as evidenced by severe track marks on his arms. Nick appears to have no recollection of his friend or their lives in Pennsylvania. They face each other in the contest, with screaming gamblers looking on. During the final match, Mike tries to persuade Nick to come home but, with a compelling acknowledgement that he does remember Mike and their lives back home (Nick repeats the "one shot" phrase the two used to use to describe their approach to deer hunting), Nick takes the gun and fires the fatal shot into his own head. Mike brings his body back to America, but the fulfilled promise not to leave Nick in Vietnam is an empty one. The film ends on the morning of Nick's funeral with the remaining main characters singing God Bless America with much sobriety if not sadness.

Inspired by German First World War soldier and author Erich Maria Remarque's 1937 novel Drei Kameraden (Three Comrades) depicting the lives of a trio of disillusioned World War I veterans in 1920s Weimar Germany, this film attempts to explore the meaning of violence, predation and survival and the often ghastly misuses of patriotism as well as illustrating the concepts of ethnicity, family, friendship and community ties and how they complement as well as clash with one another.

Credits

The movie was written by Michael Cimino, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K. Redeker and Deric Washburn, and directed by Cimino.

Producers

• Joann Carelli - associate producer
• Michael Cimino - producer
• Michael Deeley - producer
• John Peverall - producer
• Marion Rosenberg - associate producer
• Barry Spikings - producer

Cast and roles include

• Robert De Niro - Michael Vronsky, "Mike"
• Christopher Walken - Nikonar "Nick" Chevotarevich
• John Cazale - Stanley Stosh
• John Savage - Steven
• Meryl Streep - Linda
• George Dzundza - John Welch
• Chuck Aspegren - Peter "Axel" Axelrod
• Shirley Stoler - Steven's mother
• Rutanya Alda - Angela Ludhjduravic-Pushkov
• Pierre Segui - Julien Hasangjekaj
• Mady Kaplan - Axel's girl
• Amy Wright - Bridesmaid

Filming locations

Filming locations include:

• Saint Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Cleveland
• Patpong, in Bangkok, Thailand - the area was rented during 2 days for the film. In the film, it is portrayed as a part of Saigon.
• Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand
• Olympic National Park, Washington state.
• Mingo Junction, Ohio, where the steel mill scenes were filmed

Awards and recognition

The Deer Hunter won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Cimino), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Christopher Walken), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. In addition, it was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Robert De Niro), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Meryl Streep), Best Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

It has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry and is consistently on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films. It is also ranked number 79 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time [link].

It is also renowned independently for its theme tune, Cavatina by Stanley Myers, commonly called The Theme from The Deer Hunter.

Miscellaneous

Many, including Dr. Thomas Radecki, a psychiatrist and former spokesperson for the National Coalition on TV Violence, contend that The Deer Hunter sparked a string of Russian roulette suicides because of its dramatic depiction of captured American soldiers forced to play Russian roulette by their Viet Cong captors [link]. The scene has also been parodied in numerous television productions (for example in The Simpsons) and even advertisements; and popularized the Vietnamese sentence "Di-di mao!" which loosely translated means "Go ahead!" or "get outta here!"

There has been some criticism of details in the film, mainly the hunting scenes supposedly taking place in the Alleghenies of Western Pennsylvania. While the native deer in Pennsylvania is the White Tail, the characters are hunting Elk in the film. The rocky mountainous terrain portrayed in the film is actually located in Washington state. As these scenes in the film were a major theme (hence the title), the setting error is glaringly noticeable by residents and anyone who has been through the region.

The film's quiet ending with the cast softly singing "God Bless America" is open to interpretation but does not let an ironic reading be lost on the audience.

To give himself a ghost-like appearance, Christopher Walken ate solely rice, bananas and water for the week prior to filming his final scene.

External links

• [The Deer Hunter] at Filmsite.org
• [The Deer Hunter screenplay]
• [The Deer Hunter: Viewings of the film The Deer Hunter have been tied to a number of Russian roulette suicides] (Snopes.com)
• [The Deer Hunter Fan Page]
• [The Deer Hunter Review]

 

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