The Deer Hunter
1978
A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.
Genres:
My notes
2nd Viewing
Shout Select Edition
I first saw this film at prep school, on DVD from Netflix. It was just after 9/11 and while at the time I'm fairly confident I understood that the Russian Roullette was a metaphor, on rewatch it was very obvious.
A solid exploration of the effect of war on both young men, a community, and the promises that the nation makes to young soldiers - promises it doesn't really mean, can't keep, and don't make up for the toll war takes on us. I wonder if the realism spent at home took away from the metaphor spent during the war - sort of the opposite of Apocalypse Now (another film I haven't watched since probably high school).