One shot is what it’s all about
Little by little, I’m getting “must watch” movies off my mental list. One of those is The Deer Hunter. It was longer than I expected, and although I’d caught scenes of the film in the past, they were usually slow. There were bits like that throughout, but being that I felt this was a character study of sorts, it’s not like the scenes were unimportant. Or more precisely, they did not seem slow in context.
Absolutely, hands down, an excellent film. The complexity in DeNiro’s character was very well done. Walken’s performance was incredible throughout. From the initial moments of comraderie to the very end, the film is worthy of the awards and accolades it has been presented.
Special Notes of Interest [from IMDB]:
During some of the Russian Roulette scenes, a live round was put into the gun to heighten the actors’ tension. This was Robert De Niro’s suggestion. It was checked, however, to make sure the bullet was not in the chamber before the trigger was pulled.
The scene where Savage is yelling, “Michael, Michael” as he is stuck in the river is actually Savage yelling at the director Michael Cimino because of his fear of rats which were infesting the river area. He was yelling for the director to pull him out of the water because of the rats… it looked real and they kept it in.
—————-
Now playing: Joe Jackson – Stepping Out
via FoxyTunes
The Broken Forum said,
March 18, 2008 at 8:57 pm
One of my favorite films. Very deep on so many levels and definitely worth more than a few viewings. I’ve studied this film in school; it’s amazing how many layers there are. For example: Deniro’s “one shot” theory of hunting…and how the one single shot comes back to haunt the men while forced to play roulette. How they have total control over nature at home but the opposite is true over seas.
six06 said,
March 18, 2008 at 9:11 pm
i would love to see this again. i think there’s much more that i could discover in that respect. i was drawn to deniro’s character, in how his odd nature was actually the redeeming quality that kept it all together. a certain madness and determination that took hold of a situation for simple survival. one of the things that struck me was where, while captured, he dismissed the idea of saving steven, concentrating only on their effort to stay alive. then saving him. not just saving him, but FOLLOWING him when steven fell from the chopper. his character was so complex, and rich.
ssuzuki said,
March 22, 2008 at 4:22 pm
i saw that movie awhile ago, so i don’t remember ALL the details. what i do remember about it was that it was long, complex, and left me drained emotionally. heavy, heavy movie.
(btw, this is “to_paraphrase” from LJ. i decided to make a WP art blog after checking the place out from your blog).