Ian Nathan introduced this episode and told us it was made "so soon after the (Vietnam) war ended" and that it "was a radical new way of showing war on screen". It was THE Vietnam movie. It allowed audiences to see the reality of Vietnam. Ian tells us that it was a huge box office hit as well as winning five Oscars. This was despite the fact that the war was hugely controversial at home.
We are shown how the film starts with that wedding in a close knit working class North Pennsylvania town. Set in a Russian Orthodox Christian community, this early part of the film lasts fifty minutes. Christina Newland tells us how the huge number of extras for the wedding scenes were drawn from the local community, so they knew all the dances. We see the three friends here before they go off to war. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Cazale. Leaving Meryl Streep behind. De Niro was the backbone of the project that was such a divisive subject in America.
Steven Armstrong says this is not a traditional war movie, it's about what happens to these three friends. It all hinges on their capture by the Vietcong. The entire film was shot on location, from Cleveland to Thailand and the River Quai where the three were help prisoner and the "dramatic function of Russian Roulette".
Those five Oscar wins included one for Christopher Walken as best supporting actor, as well as best film and best director for a young Michael Cimino. (His next film was the disaster that was Heaven's Gate). It was the British producer Michael Deeley who bought the script. He had previously had success at British Lion Films and it was when they merged with EMI Films that The Deer Hunter came to fruition. Ian Nathan ends with telling us how the film portrays "the phycological impact the war has on soldiers". And about how America sees itself.
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