Die durch die Hölle gehen (1978)

Die durch die Hölle gehen: Directed by Michael Cimino. With Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken. An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

“u0026quot;The Deer Hunteru0026quot; is not a film about the Vietnam war, as it is wrongly said in many cases.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Deer Hunteru0026quot; is a film tells the story of 3 friends within about 5-6 years, during which their friendship is repeatedly put to the test.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is primarily a picture of the contemporary life of a group of people around 30 living in a small American town during the Vietnam war.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe first hour of the film portrays the every day life of three friends Mike (De Niro), Steven (Savage) and Nick (Walken), who look forward to Steveu0026#39;s wedding but at the same time have to prepare for their commitment in Vietnam. The main actors (above all De Niro and Walken) perfectly picture the characteru0026#39;s inner conflict between their easygoing home town life and the forthcoming assignment in Vietnam. Despite this conflict the characters donu0026#39;t show their concerns to their environment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eParticularly Nick is worried about him and his friends leaving his home town and perhaps never coming back, but he only tells his best friend Mike of his thoughts, who is much more resolute and sees their engagement as a strong masculine act.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCimino manages to show the simple irrationality of young men, going to a senseless war from which they might never return for the only purpose of glory and approval, and abandoning their settled and happy life for it. The spectator just canu0026#39;t understand why those young men voluntarily sign for the army and give up everything they have. The passage from the small-town-idyll to the war cruelty is greatly pictured. Cimino does not show the three friendsu0026#39; way to Vietnam or the training, he immediately switches from a happy get-together to the cruel war captivity of the Vietcong. This passage perfectly underlines the contrast and the inexplicability of the three menu0026#39;s actions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough the passage that is set in Vietnam is only about one third of the whole film long, the war is omnipresent at any time, which is probably the best benefit of the whole film, Cimino does not need to bomb the spectator with pictures of crying children, mutilated soldiers or desert battlefields in order to illustrate the cruelty of war. Far from it! The changed behavior of all characters after the friendsu0026#39; returns tell more about warsu0026#39; capability of changing someoneu0026#39;s life, than anything else.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd the fact that the many dreams that these three friends had before they went to Vietnam didnu0026#39;t come true, because of their longing for recognition by becoming an acclaimed veteran can even pluck your heartstrings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCiminou0026#39;s great directing and the castu0026#39;s awesome acting provide for a touching and honest drama about the friendship of a group of young men, that is destroyed by the Vietnam war.”