p e n g u i n d e v i l

Well, as I learned from attempting to watch Heaven’s Gate a few weeks back, Michael Cimino’s films should probably have some heavy editing done in the first hour. Maybe trim a half hour. This time the film at stake was The Deer Hunter. Which, while the bonding/building scenes in the first third are too long (the film is three hours long), the story fares much better than in his later epic. This story of three steelworkers who are sent off to Vietnam, their experiences there and the repercussions upon their return, shows a harsh reality for those who fought in Vietnam both while over there and back home, all without taking a political or moral stance. It seems like a real movie for the veterans. But since I’ve never know one, I can only guess.

Regardless, it’s a strong movie. A great cast, including Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep in one of her first roles, all do convincing jobs as a tight group of friends whose routines and relationships are permanently altered by the war. It also co-stars John Cazelle, who I always find intriguing. Not only because I find his characters to be quite terribly heart-wrenching (especially Fredo and Sal from Dog Day Afternoon) but because of the terrible arc of his brief film career; six years, five classic feature films (all of which were nominated for both the “best picture” Oscar and the “best drama” Golden Globe), and then death at 42, before The Deer Hunter was even released.

But back to the movie. Once they get to Vietnam, the movie picks up… A little too much for the characters involved. All of our stars end up together, in a spot they would rather not find themselves in. Through the tortuous realities brought by the Viet Cong, it is understandable how they got so many soldiers to sign those declarations and why so many Vet’s came back in the bad shape that they did. The pains that they have to put up with have effects that last far beyond the period when the physical pain eases, for some in this film, the tortures move from being the fear of the end, to becoming a way of life. Relationships and loyalites are strained and people are pushed beyond the limits where they recognize themselves. Not that I want to give much away, but not all three of these guys come home, whole in mind and body.