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Started By
Message
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Posted on 8/4/20 at 5:07 pm
Posted on 8/4/20 at 5:07 pm
Really long. 3hs3m. I wrote this in two parts, during a break and after I was done watching.
Without looking it up I know it won numerous awards, perhaps for being the first angst-filled movie about 'Nam. I'm only 2/3 through the movie and I had to take a break. I don't get the love for the movie. Great cast, De Nero, Walken, Streep, and Cazale. I mention Cazale last because he had lung cancer while filming and died shortly after they wrapped, sadly. I don't know much about him other than playing the weasel Fredo Coreleone perfectly, but he was well respected by his peers as an actor. He was dating Meryll Streep at the time too and she was beautiful.
A lot of the movie is the sexual tension between Walken's GF and De Nero, aside from the 'Nam angle. Pittsburgh proper was pretty damn gloomy in the 70's, but its a transformed area now. Also, I saw a lot of Jewish wedding traditions but Christian crosses and implications before and during their friend's wedding in the first act which didn't make much sense. Streep as a younger woman butters my muffin, politics be damned. A fare skinned attractive lady.
Without looking it up they filmed all the deer hunting scenes in western ranges in the US, not around Pennsylvania. Far too rocky, steep and vast to be the Allegheny or Appalachian ranges. That is annoying for people like me I suppose. The Allegeheny area is fantastic so why not film there!
Second Part ------------------------
Ok I finished the ending and its great and pretty damned disturbing. If they would have shaved 20 minutes out of the wedding in the first act I think it would have been incredible. I don't know why they had all that wedding footage in the film.
If I were giving a tip to someone like me who has never watched this film, I'd suggest skipping most of the wedding footage in the first act. They are saying goodbye, and establishing sexual tension between De Niro and Streep's characters when Walken is the BF and both of them are going to 'Nam. The wedding was half the movie.
Without looking it up I know it won numerous awards, perhaps for being the first angst-filled movie about 'Nam. I'm only 2/3 through the movie and I had to take a break. I don't get the love for the movie. Great cast, De Nero, Walken, Streep, and Cazale. I mention Cazale last because he had lung cancer while filming and died shortly after they wrapped, sadly. I don't know much about him other than playing the weasel Fredo Coreleone perfectly, but he was well respected by his peers as an actor. He was dating Meryll Streep at the time too and she was beautiful.
A lot of the movie is the sexual tension between Walken's GF and De Nero, aside from the 'Nam angle. Pittsburgh proper was pretty damn gloomy in the 70's, but its a transformed area now. Also, I saw a lot of Jewish wedding traditions but Christian crosses and implications before and during their friend's wedding in the first act which didn't make much sense. Streep as a younger woman butters my muffin, politics be damned. A fare skinned attractive lady.
Without looking it up they filmed all the deer hunting scenes in western ranges in the US, not around Pennsylvania. Far too rocky, steep and vast to be the Allegheny or Appalachian ranges. That is annoying for people like me I suppose. The Allegeheny area is fantastic so why not film there!
Second Part ------------------------
Ok I finished the ending and its great and pretty damned disturbing. If they would have shaved 20 minutes out of the wedding in the first act I think it would have been incredible. I don't know why they had all that wedding footage in the film.
If I were giving a tip to someone like me who has never watched this film, I'd suggest skipping most of the wedding footage in the first act. They are saying goodbye, and establishing sexual tension between De Niro and Streep's characters when Walken is the BF and both of them are going to 'Nam. The wedding was half the movie.
10
Posted on 8/4/20 at 6:03 pm to alpinetiger
quote:
If they would have shaved 20 minutes out of the wedding
Been telling that to who ever would listen for the last 42 years.
Good but flawed movie.
Posted on 8/4/20 at 7:07 pm to alpinetiger
quote:
The wedding scene didn’t go according to plan. And that’s because there wasn’t much of a plan to begin with. To prepare for the scene, which was filmed in a Russian Orthodox church in Cleveland, Cimino took the principal cast to an actual Russian wedding in West Virginia. For added authenticity, the 30-minute scene stars an actual priest as the priest, and actual drunk Russian immigrants as the wedding guests. “Michael didn’t know what he was looking for,” cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond told Vanity Fair. Thus, Cimino staged a nonstop dance party over the course of five days that drove the actors to exhaustion, and at one point De Niro and Cazale collapsed to the floor, which can be seen in the film. “They were so tired,” said Zsigmond. “That was obviously an accident, but that’s what he was looking for.”
Deer Hunter
Posted on 8/4/20 at 8:07 pm to rebelrouser
The Film Editor was given 600,000 feet of film.
Zinner eventually cut the film to 18,000 feet (3.4 mi; 5.5 km). Cimino later fired Zinner when he discovered that Zinner was editing the wedding scenes.
Zinner eventually won Best Editing Oscar for The Deer Hunter
If ever an Editor deserved an Oscar, this was it. Cimino proved he just knew how to point and shoot a camera when he did the same thing with Days of Heaven.
Eventually he was run out of town for wasting everyone's money.
Zinner eventually cut the film to 18,000 feet (3.4 mi; 5.5 km). Cimino later fired Zinner when he discovered that Zinner was editing the wedding scenes.
Zinner eventually won Best Editing Oscar for The Deer Hunter
If ever an Editor deserved an Oscar, this was it. Cimino proved he just knew how to point and shoot a camera when he did the same thing with Days of Heaven.
Eventually he was run out of town for wasting everyone's money.
This post was edited on 8/4/20 at 8:09 pm
Posted on 8/4/20 at 9:14 pm to alpinetiger
I agree that the movie is overlong. The director was notorious in Hollywood for shooting a lot of footage.
It got so bad in his next film (Heaven’s Gate) that it basically put United Artists out of business, which caused a big shift in the industry with most directors no longer having complete control over their works.
It got so bad in his next film (Heaven’s Gate) that it basically put United Artists out of business, which caused a big shift in the industry with most directors no longer having complete control over their works.
Posted on 8/4/20 at 9:17 pm to alpinetiger
quote:
Also, I saw a lot of Jewish wedding traditions but Christian crosses and implications before and during their friend's wedding in the first act which didn't make much sense
Dude... It's Russian Orthodox Church. It's laid out clear as day that they're all Russian/Eastern European ancestry.
The wedding is not too long. The film is a masterpiece. If anything, I don't care for the Vietnam stuff.
The film is about their homelife and what the war did to a group of friends, half that went to war and half that didn't.
The so-called "gloomy" look is actually very accurate to the 60s and early 70s steel Town. It felt authentic and real.
quote:
Days of Heaven
Cimino didn't direct Days of Heaven. That's Malick's film with Richard Gere.
Ciminio made Heaven's Gate... Which is tremendously flawed, yes, but, there's no denying the greatness of The Deer Hunter. Emotionaly, it's one of the most unique films ever made. The acting by the leads is phenomenal.
Cimino when under some control was a great filmmaker. When he had carte blanche, we saw what happened. Deer Hunter and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot can't be ignored.
Posted on 8/4/20 at 9:17 pm to alpinetiger
Delete
This post was edited on 8/4/20 at 9:19 pm
Posted on 8/4/20 at 9:17 pm to alpinetiger
Double post
This post was edited on 8/4/20 at 9:18 pm
Posted on 8/4/20 at 10:35 pm to Jack Ruby
The Deer Hunter is one of those movies people feel like they should praise because they've heard others praise it, but no one really enjoys. It's a slogfest to get through.
Posted on 8/4/20 at 11:57 pm to Jack Ruby
I meant Heaven's Gate, you know that.
Posted on 8/4/20 at 11:59 pm to SoFla Tideroller
Very gritty, authentic movie. The wedding scene was a little long, but it really did a great job setting the stage and backdrop of the period while providing character development. Brilliant movie, but the type that weighs heavy on you after watching it. I do like it, but not the type of movie you can watch over and over.
Another great movie you should check out with Cavale is Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino. He is Pacino's partner in a bank robbery gone bad. Another classic movie from that era. Quite the resume - Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, & The Deer Hunter. Very under-rated actor.
Another great movie you should check out with Cavale is Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino. He is Pacino's partner in a bank robbery gone bad. Another classic movie from that era. Quite the resume - Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, & The Deer Hunter. Very under-rated actor.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 1:49 am to Da #1 Stunna
Every movie he was in was nominated for the Oscar. Pretty solid batting average.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 11:57 am to SoFla Tideroller
quote:
The Deer Hunter is one of those movies people feel like they should praise because they've heard others praise it, but no one really enjoys.
Nah, the wedding scene is too long, but it’s still a great movie.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 12:04 pm to alpinetiger
This isn't something else. This is this.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 4:08 pm to Jack Ruby
quote:
The film is a masterpiece.
Beaucoup hate for deer hunter in here. I agree with you. I think it’s one of the better films ever made.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 6:32 pm to mizzoubuckeyeiowa
quote:
I meant Heaven's Gate, you know that.
I'm sure you did. Would like to point out that Days Of Heaven is also a masterpiece.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 6:45 pm to alpinetiger
Saw it, didn't care for it.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 7:06 pm to rebelrouser
quote:
Would like to point out that Days Of Heaven is also a masterpiece.
I'll find and watch that movie too.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 7:45 pm to alpinetiger
quote:
Ok I finished the ending and its great and pretty damned disturbing. If they would have shaved 20 minutes out of the wedding in the first act I think it would have been incredible. I don't know why they had all that wedding footage in the film.
Obviously The Deer Hunter is an extreme example, but people say these exact same things about the wedding scene in The Godfather.
The point is to immerse you in the culture of the town and, by extension, the main characters. You should leave the wedding scenes knowing exactly what the lives of these characters were growing up and their prospects for the future.
Thematically, the celebration (probably one of the only events of its kind in their town) is also supposed to contrast with the horror of the rest of the movie. The Deer Hunter isn't just about the end result of being a POW in Vietnam; it gives equal weight to the lives of soldiers before and after. The wedding scenes are just as important to the context of the "God Bless America" finale as the scenes in Vietnam are.
Posted on 8/5/20 at 7:48 pm to Jack Ruby
quote:
The wedding is not too long
Its 51 damn minutes
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