This is one that I've never seen. I generally don't choose to watch war films - which this challenge has shown (with the exception of Patton) to be a bit of a mistake. I've seen a few Vietnam-based films but they tend to be films about the people left behind (ie. hippie films with cool soundtracks) or things like Forrest Gump. This one has always been filed in my head in the same place as Apocalypse Now (one of the first, very serious etc) with a "must watch later" label on it. Well now is my chance....My only other frames of reference for this film are quite possibly going to slightly spoil one or two scenes with unfortunately inappropriate associations.
Firstly, those of us of a certain age who were brought up in the UK with the help of the BBC will always associate the theme music - "Cavatina" - with Tony Hart's gallery and someone signing their apologies that no pictures can be returned.....
Secondly, there was an advert for chocolate Revels many years back that was based around the Russian roulette scene - playing on the idea that you never know which flavour you're going to get. I'm guessing the film would have a very different outcome if they were playing with Revels, not bullets!
It included a segment, sung by Sammy Davies Jnr and Steve Lawrence called "Oscar's Only Human", which highlighted lots of great songs over the years which didn't even get a nomination for Best Song. There was some controversy about the song, but the segment was kept in when Jack Haley Jr threatened to quit as Producer and take Johnny Carson with him!
The ceremony was the last public appearance for John Wayne, who presented the Best Picture award. He died two months after. It was also the last appearance for Jack Haley Sr who presented the Best Costume award. He died later that year.
Other Notable Winners That Night:
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| Jon and Jane |
The Deer Hunter took the big two, and a supporting Oscar for Christopher Walken - but the main two acting awards went to Jon Voight and Jane Fonda for rival film Coming Home. Maggie Smith took the other acting award for California Suite.
Only the two 'Nam films and Midnight Express got more than one award, with everything else shared out between a wide range of different styles of film.
Among the Honorary Awards was one for Laurence Olivier and a special award for the visual effects in Superman. (It can't be long now before the "technical" awards categories start multiplying to accommodate new technologies....)
Best Song:
We're deep into Disco at this point - so here's Donna Summer with "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday.
It beat Hopelessly Devoted To You from Grease (nope, I don't know why that one got nominated either!) and, more to the point, my favourite Barry Manilow song (I'm not a big fan, so there's not much choice) from a film I loved when I was much younger, Foul Play. I love this song - here it is in all its glory with the fab opening titles!
What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:
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| Hanoi Jane and Jon Voight (who still has his legs, btw!) |
However, it was always going to be a two horse race between the two 'Nam films. It was inevitable that The Deer Hunter and Coming Home were going to be compared. The comparison even crept into Friends - "John Savage was Deer Hunter - no legs. Jon Voight was Coming Home, couldn't feel his legs" (Not for the first time, Ross was wrong and Richard was right!). I've not seen Coming Home - but it was the one that was favoured by those of a similar political persuasion to me. Supporters of Coming Home (and particularly Jane Fonda herself) were very critical of what they perceived as a right-wing glorification of the US - if not of the war itself - in The Deer Hunter. Read on to find out whether I agree with that or not. As to which is the better of the two films, I'll let you know what I think when I've seen Coming Home - but don't hold your breath. With Platoon on it's way soon, I've no great desire to add another 'Nam film to my watchlist at the moment!
Our Verdict:
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| The second film this decade to start with a very long wedding scene.... |
It's been a few weeks now since we watched The Deer Hunter and I'm glad I've given it a some time before writing this - as it's taken several weeks to stop thinking about it. We got as far as Amadeus before anything touched it (not even Ghandi). Part of me doesn't really want to put myself through watching such a harrowing film again for quite some time - yet part of me wants to go right back to it and see what else I can get from it.
The basic plot is just as much human interest / family drama as it is war film - which I wasn't expecting and was very pleased about. It starts with a wedding (a good way to introduce a community, as Coppola will tell you!) and then follows the fates of three friends from a steel town who sign up for Vietnam, along with those they leave behind.
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| Here comes Meryl Streep - don't worry, she'll be back! |
The "during" section is violent and harrowing. The centrepiece here is the famous Russian roulette scene, which is very well filmed and incredibly tense. The actors all look very shaken (including the extras) - apparently some of their reactions weren't acting. (And, no, I didn't think about Revels even once!)
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| The big metaphor.... |
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| He got the coffee flavoured Revel. It was all downhill from there. |
Being of the wrong generation and nationality, I can't really make fair comment on whether Jane
was right about The Deer Hunter being right-wing propaganda. Apart from a cloyingly patriotic moment at the end, it didn't feel like it to me. It definitely wasn't pro-war and I don't even think it was particularly pro-America. It was ultimately just very sad and very moving.
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