There are some motion pictures that are simply beyond ordinary Hollywood movies. Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978) is one of those. It tells the story of a group of friends during the time of the Vietnam War. This Academy award-winning film exhibits the best of what cinema has to offer. Rarely is it, that a single film takes on life of its own, and it is something we should take the time to appreciate.
WALKEN	The film opens in Clairton, Pennsylvania. It is at the steel plant where we are introduced to the primary characters: Michael, Nicky, Steven, Stanley, Axel, and John. All friends, and all work in the same plant. The film takes us from a wedding to a funeral. We are witness to the inevitable tragedy of this group dynamic. The elevation and joy at the wedding can only lead to a mighty fall.
	Michael Cimino, probably best known as the director of Hollywood's greatest flop, Heaven's Gate, weaves together an emotionally rich film filled with natural acting and powerful scenes. Watch for the uninvited Green Beret at Steven's wedding; the way Nicky proposes (no eye contact with his future wife); everything Stanley does; Michael's love for Nicky and Linda; the way Michael is the strength of the group and how the others depend on him.
	The Deer Hunter is an intelligently written and directed film. At the time, it was criticized for being pro-war and anti-Vietnamese, but this is a superficial 'reading'. The themes of love, fate, and the feeling of belonging are stressed here, not politics. Never has a film moved me so much.
	MCA/UNIVERSAL PICTURES: 183 min, [R], Color, VC/LD.	DIRECTED BY Michael Cimino
	PRODUCED BY Barry Spikings Michael Deeley Michael Cimino John Perverall	SCREENPLAY BY Deric Washburn
		CINEMATOGRAPHY BY Vilmos Zsigmond
	PRINCIPAL CAST Robert De Niro (Michael) Christopher Walken (Nicky) Meryl Streep (Linda) John Savage (Steven)	Chuck Aspergen (Axel) George Dzunda (John) John Cazale (Stan)
	Other Deer Hunter info: The Internet Movie Database Mainstream Reviews
	PERMANENT LOCATION: http://www.siteway.com/cinemacite/0596.html TEXT VERSION: http://www.siteway.com/cinemacite/0596.text

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