by Brendan Foley
Two Cents
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Michael Cimino’s passing on July 2nd brought to an end one of the most fascinating and controversial careers to ever wind its way through Hollywood.
With The Deer Hunter, Cimino proved that the New Hollywood film brats could set aside the laser guns and shark attacks and craft masterpieces every bit as capital-I Important as the Golden Era epics of old. The Deer Hunter, a sprawling, humanist epic with a star-studded cast of up-and-coming talent including Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, and John Cazale (appearing in his fifth and final film, passing away from lung cancer days after the film was completed). It was a critical hit, awards juggernaut, and an instantly iconic audience smash. It was not without its controversies (the completely fictional Russian Roulette element drew harsh critiques, as did a general consensus that The Deer Hunter was a far-too conservative response to the trauma of Vietnam that we as a nation were still trying to rebuild away from) but The Deer Hunter seemed like the fulfillment of the promise of the New Hollywood era.
Cimino’s next film, Heaven’s Gate, put down that era with the finality of a horse with a broken leg. Another epic in both length, budget, and production, Heaven’s Gate bankrupted a studio, was soundly excoriated by the critical press, and is still to this day held up as THE example of a power-mad auteur let loose without check (one legendary story posits that the production spent millions constructing an elaborate Western town, only for Cimino to order the entire thing struck down and rebuilt because the buildings were not far enough apart). Only two years after winning Best Picture and Best Director, Cimino was slapped with a Razzie and named persona non grata.
He worked sporadically after (including almost directing Footloose) but Cimino’s legacy is largely tied to those two films, those two polar reactions. Heaven’s Gate has enjoyed a critical reappraisal since its release, with many now holding it up as flawed but brilliant elegy to the American West and the Hollywood Western.
Was Michael Cimino one of the greats, a visionary whose career was stifled by a system that simply would not, or maybe could not, follow him to the heights he pursued? Or was he egotistical and arrogant, a brat who flew too close the sun and caught flame, taking the dream of a revitalized and artistically friendly Hollywood with him? Or something in between?
We don’t have the answers, but it seemed fitting to pay brief tribute to this divisive, influential filmmaker by watching The Deer Hunter and letting the art speak for itself.
– Brendan
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
So… y’all heard about this new Ghostbusters movie? *instantly buried under an avalanche of sexist bile*
Paul Feig’s remake of 1984’s beloved spook-a-blast comedy classic Ghostbusters has attracted an enormous amount of controversy and hatred, but rather than centering on meaningful arguments about remaking a classic or hiring the director of Bridesmaids, most of the vitriol has been aimed directly at the female-fronted casting in an all-out sexist attack.
Ghostbusters fandom is frankly in an embarrassing state, so we’re checking out the documentary Ghostheads, which highlights the passion of superfans and why bustin’ makes them feel good. Will it offset some of the negativity? Let’s find out together! Ghostheads is currently streaming on Netflix.
– Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
Our Guest
Trey Lawson:The Deer Hunter is a difficult film. It vividly, powerfully captures the most negative effects the Vietnam War had on the young Americans sent to fight it, as well as the overwhelming cynicism over our reasons for being there. The powerhouse cast, including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and of course Christopher Walken, elevate the material immensely and bring a level of pathos that might not otherwise be found in the script. Also I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful supporting actor John Cazale, who was dying of terminal lung cancer as the film was shot and died before its release. Cazale, whose career was far too short, owns every scene in which he appears (in this and all of his other films). And yet the film is not without its problems. My ambivalence is due in part to the depiction of the Vietnamese who are portrayed almost entirely as little more than caricatures — cartoon villains who live solely to sadistically torment American soldiers. This, combined with a lack of acknowledgment that atrocities were committed by both sides during the war, problematizes the film’s ability to comment effectively on the war. In addition, the pacing of the film is an acquired taste. The lengthy, ponderous opening, subplots that don’t entirely pay off, and at times abrupt editing, could be construed as a lack of focus but are also very much a part of Michael Cimino’s aesthetic. And yet, the performances at the heart of the film, and its use of Russian roulette as a kind of metaphor for the trauma of the war, are incredibly powerful and worth seeing. The Deer Hunter isn’t my favorite film about war (Vietnam or otherwise), but with it Michael Cimino totally changed how the horrors of war could be depicted on screen. (@T_Lawson)
The Team
Justin:Unlike seemingly every other cinephile or film fanatic, I’m no fan of The Deer Hunter. My complaints are mostly the same as with most epic war films, this movie is slow and extremely dull.
However, The Deer Hunter is not just boring, but also irresponsibly demonizing of the Vietnamese. It certainly doesn’t paint the US soldier or war in some overly positive light, but it feels like it goes out of its way to show the evils of the other. It’s hard to overlook or forgive the pains Cimino and company seemingly went to in order to paint Vietnam as a literal Hell, with the Vietnamese as literal devils. In this, The Deer Hunter is a representation of the type of nationalism that can be extremely dangerous if left unexamined.
The film certainly takes on interesting themes. The relationships of the main trio and supporting characters create interesting studies in what it means to be a soldier, a man, and an American. This examination of masculinity, brotherhood, and perseverance in the face of war is very worthy of praise. But, as noted above, it’s important to consider that this examination comes at the expense of demonizing the other.
In short, there’s a lot of great stuff to unpack here, as long as the viewer is able to avoid being overtaken by the jingoism and xenophobia presented in the portrayal of the Vietnamese. (@thepaintedman)
Brendan: By turns bawdy, elegiac, grisly and mournful, The Deer Hunter feels a bit too much like the sort of book you had to read in high school, overly long and a touch too proud of its own importance. The best scenes are those actually set in Vietnam, as actors like De Niro, Walken, and Savage doing incredible work showing men fraying and splitting apart under pressure. Walken has become so entrenched as a figure of camp lunacy, it is often shocking to revisit his earlier films and see the depths he possessed. His Nick is the open, loving soul of The Deer Hunter, and his defilement and doom is the ultimate condemnation of America’s involvement in that damned war.
Ultimately, The Deer Hunter may suffer from that too-common malady of having been copied so much that the punch of the original fades. While the blunt violence and unromanticized vision of post-combat trauma must have stunned audiences back in the 1970s, these same images are repeated ad nauseum in today’s movies and television (something like 90% of all drama TV shows have featured a “Crazy Soldier” at one point or another). The Deer Hunter can’t help but feel obvious in this day and age, as we’ve been singing the same song ever since. May we one day live in a world where this film is again considered shocking. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Austin:The Deer Hunter is probably the perfect film to remember an enigmatic madman whose demand for perfection was both his greatest achievement and downfall.
Beautifully photographed by Vilmos Zsigmond (who attested to the difficulty of working with Cimino), the film is a stunning achievement: gorgeous, epic, disturbing, and heartbreaking. The celebrated performances by the incredible cast are complex, unglamorous, and authentic. De Niro displays a complex range of emotions as the lead. Walken somehow makes a descent into madness believable without coming across as a cartoon. And Cazale, bless him, was always the best when it comes to playing the asshole.
The Deer Hunter is a war film, yet features only one brief scene of combat. In Cimino’s vision, war isn’t simply a matter of soldiers fighting off in some distant country — it’s the hell that blackens your soul and comes home with you — if you come home at all.
The Deer Hunter was seemingly unanimously praised, going on to win Best Picture for 1978, and yet even in Cimino’s masterpiece the earmarks of his eventual undoing are evident. In his quest for realism, the entire production was shot on location with rigorous attention to detail. The film is three hours long, and almost evenly dedicates an hour to each of its three acts. The methodical first act ponderously gives us a window into the lives of our protagonists and their friends in the rural town where they work as laborers at the steel mill, drinking, hunting, and attending a last-minute wedding. This introduction goes on for over an hour before abruptly cutting to Vietnam. So exhausted by the experience were the film’s producers that they passed (wisely, it turns out) on the follow-up despite The Deer Hunter’s overwhelming acclaim.
Cimino was many things — an auteur, enigma, tyrant, and pathological liar — but he was also an undeniably gutsy, determined, and astonishing filmmaker. (@VforVashaw)
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Get it at Amazon:
The Deer Hunter [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]