Final: The Deer Hunter
Name
ENG 225
Instructor
Date
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter (1978) Directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Cazale was written by Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle, and Quinn K. Redeker. The Deer Hunter is an in-depth examination of how the Vietnam War affects the lives of people from a small industrial town here in the United States. I am going to identify, explain the involvement, and the roles of the director, production designer, and the art directors. In this film, I will explain and discuss storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sounds, styles and directing, societal impacts, genres, and film criticism and analysis.
The Deer Hunter is about three young factory workers from Pennsylvania who are drafted and enlist into the Army to fight during the Vietnam War. This film was a winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture Oscar Award in 1979. The movie is one hundred and eighty-two minutes long and the first third of the movie takes place in Pennsylvania to introduce the situation. Only about forty minutes of it took place in Vietnam. Only five minutes of that involved a war scene, twenty minutes of it took place in a POW/MIA camp where the characters are forced to play Russian roulette against each other. The last third of the movie involves Michael, played by Robert De Niro, returning back home after he leaves the War to his old life. At the end, he goes back to Vietnam to try and recover Nick, played by Christopher Walken, this time they end up playing Russian roulette in a casino and Nick dies.
Robert De Niro is an impersonator/star actor. “The term impersonator is considered somewhat demeaning in the acting world, suggesting that the actor has simply copied the manner, dialect, and behavior of a character, instead of creating the character.” (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011, p. 3.4). “Stars are actors who are simply...