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October 15, 2004
The Deer Hunter, Deliverance
I'm quite annoyed because the mailman shoved The Deer Hunter into my box, bending it enough to ruin the disc. So I got about halfway through the film, then had to shut it off and report it broken. Second copy finally came today, and I was able to finish it.
If someone described the film to me, it really wouldn't seem like the type of thing I'd like. The first hour delves into a bunch of hometown middle-America blue collar workers who work in a mill (played by De Niro, Walken, and John Cazale [Fredo of the Godfather] who was dying of bone cancer during the shoot]. The second hour deals with the disaster that was Vietnam, and the third as De Niro returns and tries to pick up the pieces.
The first hour of the film is more or less concerned with a single day or two, in fact - preping for a wedding, the wedding, the wedding party, and then a hunting trip. All seemingly insignificant events that are much needed in this film. Then we cut to De Niro, who is already in Nam in a POW camp with Walken. Funny how we have just spent an hour on an "unimportant" wedding, then skipped over travel, training, and battle only to arrive at the prison camp. But really, this is what matters: seeing the everyday life of middle America kids and then watching it get smashed to pieces in an underwater cage. The many Russian Roulette matches are classic, and supposedly upped the number of such deaths in the US after the film's release.
Overall, a great film, and I think it's funny that director Michael Cimono's next film, Heaven's Gate, is totally unmentioned on the DVD. Considered one of the greatest disasters in film history, it was the film that put United Artists out of business. Way to go, Mike!
I also watched Deliverance, finally, and while I enjoyed it, I think the hype kind of ruined it. I was very surprised to see both the banjo scene and the rape scene occur within the first half hour of the film. Both are, er, classic in their own ways. And the cinematography was wonderful - lots of earthy greens, browns, and whites. Ultimately, though, I'm not a huge fan. They say when you write a screenplay, each event should be more devastating than the last, and this script seems to follow that to a T. But on the other hand, it almost comes off as mechanical. The bad just keeps on getting worse and worse until ... they are faced with a moral dilemma, and Jon Voight gets to go home and have nightmares. It was good ... I just suppose I already had the movie in my head. And that's a tough standard to live up to.
Posted by nick at October 15, 2004 12:22 AM