Deer Hunter, The

Rusyn Americans During the Vietnam War

The Deer Hunter dramatizes the life of a small Rusyn American community from Clairton, Pennsylvania, as it struggles to cope with the effects of the Vietnam War. The film begins by introducing a group of male friends who work at a steel factory outside Pittsburgh. The film's protagonist is Michael (Robert De Niro), a Western-type hero who combines great inner strength with a controlling personality. An avid hunter, Michael discloses his tendency to play God through his “one-shot” philosophy for killing deer. Nick (Christopher Walken) presents a counterbalancing force by reminding his best friend of his domineering ways. At the start of the film, the two men prepare for their departure for Vietnam along with Steven (John Savage), a younger friend who is to be married in a farewell celebration.

The Deer Hunter intertwines the war front and the home front through an alternating ABABA format (where A is Clairton and B is Vietnam). The vitality of the working-class community revolves around the steel mill, a Russian Orthodox church, a bar where the male characters bond, the mom-and-pop market that employs Nick's girlfriend Linda (Meryl Streep), and the mountains where the men go deer hunting. In scenes depicting Steven's wedding celebration, the mise-en-scène highlights regional immigrant traditions while also attesting to the characters’ assimilation into the U.S. mainstream. Although the men and women sing and dance in accordance with eastern European traditions, a giant banner stating “Serving God and Country Proudly” honors the three men set to fight for their country. Nick professes his unconditional love for this Clairton enclave by making Michael promise never to leave him behind in Vietnam.

Cimino depicts a tight-knit ethnic community but also points to systemic problems within it. For instance, Linda's alcoholic father beats her at the start of the film. Steven's wife-to-be is pregnant with another man's child. The chaos of the wedding party at the American Legion hall brings to light chronic problems of homophobia, machismo, infidelity, spousal abuse, and alcoholism. During a hunting trip, Michael nearly comes to blows with his friend Stan (John Cazale) over a pair of boots.

The Deer Hunter mostly omits the dramatic battle sequences that were a staple of the Hollywood war film. In Vietnam, the men are immediately pitted against their North Vietnamese captors inside a POW camp. To pass the time, the Vietcong compel prisoners to play Russian roulette while the men gamble on the outcome. The scene combines gritty sets, intense close-ups, shot/reverse shot eyeline match editing, and disruptive sound effects to create what is the best-known part of the film. Given its cruel Asian villains, some critics have called Cimino's unvaried depiction racist. The film remains concerned with the effects of Vietnam on the national psyche, seeing the Vietnamese as props rather than reflecting the complexity of the struggle itself.

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