The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter (in Latin America, El francotirador; in Spain, The Hunter) is a 1978 British-American epic war drama film directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. In addition to being awarded five Oscars, the film is considered one of the 100 best in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute, obtaining position 79 on the list made in 1998 and climbing to position 53 in the revised list updated in 2007. The film earned Streep and Walken their first Oscar nominations, though the award went to Walken alone.

In 1996, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

The Deer Hunter is an epic about the lives of three steelworkers from the small town of Clairton, Pennsylvania: Michael, Nick and Steven, whose routine and happy lives are irreversibly transformed. amid the tragic devastation of the Vietnam War. There they are captured by the Vietcong, who keep the prisoners in subhuman conditions and force them to play Russian roulette, betting to see which one of them will survive. They manage to escape, but the experience causes them physical and psychological injuries that will mark them on their return home.

Michael (Robert De Niro), in his return, is closed and distant with his friends and loved ones, who are weak and unhappy about the situation of the three. At the same time, Mike learns that Steven (John Savage) has also returned and is in a veterans administration invalid. He calls him and he tells him that he doesn't want to go back to his wife, whom he married before going to Vietnam and with whom he has a son. The reason is that the amputation of both of his legs makes him feel physically and psychologically useless. After having this conversation with Steven, Mike pays him a visit and forces him to return to Angela (his wife). Mike also begins to fall in love with Linda, Nick's fiancée, and begins to have a relationship with her.

Then, he returns to Saigon to find Nick (Christopher Walken) and fulfill his promise before the trip to bring him home no matter what the circumstances. After the long journey, upon reaching his destination, he meets Nick, and all his suspicions are unleashed, since he discovers that his best friend is participating in the macabre game that his kidnappers forced him to intervene with physical and mental abuse. in the war. Michael, seeing and talking to his friend, realizes to his horror that he doesn't know him, that he has lost his mind and that he is completely deranged. He only gets one chance for Nick to remember who he is and come home; risking his own life by playing against him face to face in Russian roulette.

Mike tries to remind Nick who they were. At one point, Nick remembers the words that Mike said to him before going to war, a shot, in reference to how deer had to be hunted so they wouldn't suffer. Right after, he pulls the trigger and shoots himself.

Mike takes his friend's body to the United States. The film ends with all the characters gathered in a tavern singing "God Bless America".

Cast and dubbing

Awards and nominations

Oscar 1978

Golden Globes

BAFTA Awards