Synopsis
The Deer Hunter was an early attempt by Hollywood to process traumatic memories of Vietnam. It is split into three parts: the calm before a group of Pennsylvania steel-workers leave for their tour of duty, the men’s harrowing spell in a POW camp where they are forced to play Russian roulette, and the return home of Michael (
Robert De Niro) without his missing buddy Nicky (
Christopher Walken). The film was accused of xenophobia for its depiction of the Vietnamese, while a closing rendition of "God Bless America" only inflamed left-wing dissent. But there is unexpected compassion and tenderness here, particularly in
Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography, and in understated performances by De Niro, Walken,
Meryl Streep and the late
John Cazale.