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.
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Now playing: Joe Jackson – Stepping Out
via FoxyTunes
