Last night i got the chance to jump way back in time to watch the 1978 Best Picture winner "The Deer Hunter" starring Robert DeNiro (Mike), Christopher Walken (Nick) and Meryl Streep (Linda) and folks boy do i have some things to say about it. Now of course there will be some spoilers in here but lets face it you've had 40 years to watch this movie and if you haven't well then sorry i can't help you.
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| Robert DeNiro shines in this movie |
OK so right off the top lets get my top peeve about this movie out there, this flick is way way way way too long and the time is misspent in my opinion. It clocks in at 3 hours and 3 minutes and while i can allow that length for certain films, whether they need it for plot purposes or its just that damn entertaining the whole way through, this one for sure could have left tons on the cutting room floor or refocused where that time is spent and been a superior movie. About 45 minutes right off the bat is spent at the opening wedding scene and it makes one wonder if Director Michael Cimino had maybe watched "The Godfather" recently and decided to borrow that technique to introduce the characters and their relationships. Now i will admit there are some character things in there to mine and setting up the hierarchy and interactions between the leads is helpful but its nothing that couldn't be handled in much briefer exchanges/scenes or that aren't already covered by the hunting scene immediately following. To modern audiences, myself included, this leads to a feeling of "get to the point or plot already" and can give you the itch to reach for your phone, not the things you want in a character drama like this. It becomes even more noticeable later on as the much more pivotal scenes in Vietnam and also back home after the war sometimes feel rushed. I understand that you need to see the stark difference between the men pre and post war but again there are more economical time ways to do that.
The movie also does a dismal job of covering the passage of time in the story. You're given no idea how much time goes by throughout the course of the movie, except for the final Russian roulette scene happening at the same time as the fall of Saigon, and therefore have a hard time catching up to some of the severe personality shifts that occur as the movie progresses. We go from everyone enjoying a nice, quiet piano solo to a jump cut of villages destroyed and DeNiro lighting a guy up with a flamethrower with no idea that months have passed between these two events which are back to back. The length of time Nick, Mike and Steve (John Savage) spend in a POW camp is never addressed at all either so we have no context for Steve's mental break or the way it begins to break Nick's spirit as well. Plus we get shown Mike's inability to "go back home again" as they say but again it feels rushed and kind of out of nowhere. To me the real emotional pay dirt is in these scenes in Vietnam and afterward and the time we should have spent there is instead wasted on lengthy aisle walking and DeNiro streaking scenes.
Now that we've gotten all the negatives out of the way lets get to the positives, of which there are many. First off this film is absolutely GORGEOUS! I'm not exactly the outdoors type but some of the views of the mountains of Pennsylvania/West Virginia made me want to go for a weekend hike and possibly not come back. The way the mist curls around the mountains is breathtaking and also makes you feel the stark difference between the cold/serene forests surroundings home to the hot/frantic jungles of Vietnam. This visual change of weather also ties into the story as DeNiro at one point comments on not being used to the cold after returning even though its where he grew up. A subtle hint that things have forever changed for Nick and nothing can ever be the same again. The town itself is also beautiful in its decay as well. You get the rundown town feeling in every inch from the church to the mill to the bar and really get the sense of the close knit small town community these men come from. Also this is the first movie set in Vietnam to actually be shot on location (Well Thailand at least) and this authenticity shows. You cant fake the way the jungles of Southeast Asia grow in a back lot and the decision to film there was a masterful one. You can feel the humidity in the air, see the sweat and muddy water covering everything and hear the bugs in your ear as they are trapped on/in the river. Allot of the punch of this movie could have been lost in less capable cinematography hands but Vilmos Zsigmond pulls it off masterfully.
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| Oh for the days Christopher Walken was a real actor |
Now lets get to the real highlight of this movie, the acting. When you have a film where you can say that Meryl Streep is the weakest performance then you know you have something special. Lets start at the top, Robert DeNiro was at the top of his game in this time frame and it shows as he gives one of his best performances. His ability to switch between overbearing macho man to concerned and loving friend, sometimes in the course of one scene is something to behold. His unbreakable loyalty to his friends and to his promise of bringing them home is the driving force behind this whole movie and if DeNiro was even slightly off the whole movie could have fallen apart. Luckily he was more then up to the task. Its hard to believe but he was actually a last minute replacement as Roy Scheider was originally cast but dropped out at the last minute, fortunately for us all i think. Christopher Walken won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Nick, the calming influence of the group who eventually loses all hope and ends up as a heroin addicted Russian roulette player in Saigon. Walken shows all the talent he possessed before he became a walking parody of himself. His unique look gives him an ethereal quality later in the film and draws your eyes to him early on as he fights for screen time. Far and away the best work of his career, especially as he sobs uncontrollably as he's unable to remember his parents birthdays. Just heartbreaking stuff. The rest of the cast is excellent and 100% believable as well, John Cazale puts in his usual outstanding performance in his last role before death as the loser or "Fredo" of the group if you will. Giving us the most obvious example of how DeNiro's viewpoint has changed by the end of the film. John Savage as the ill-fated Steve is also heartbreaking as he goes from life of the party at his wedding to near mute and shut in by the end, even forsaking his wife who is also overtaken by grief over whats happened and who's life is destroyed. Meryl Streep is servicable as the love interest but either through not understanding her characters arc or bad writing/direction this is the one role where the movie falters but otherwise its absolutely top notch!
"The Deer Hunter" has a well-earned reputation as one of the best movies of all time and it is, its not without its fault though as it does drag in parts and the length of time the movie happens over is always muddy and does distract from the plot but those small qualms aside this is for sure a must watch for anyone who enjoys either excellent acting or amazing cinematography. If you havent seen it i highly recommend you give it a look.
**9/10 Stars**
Classic
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