MovieChat Forums > The Deer Hunter (1979) Discussion > What's it all about?..

What's it all about?..

posted 8 years ago by Adams5905
3 replies | jump to latest

I've watched this film a good half-a-dozen times (with healthy five year gaps between them) over the years. I ration myself because it's quite simply one of the best films ever made, IMHO, and one of my absolute favourites... But I'm interested in knowing what do people think it's about?.. What is it's central message?.. I think it's about loneliness (listen to Cavatina, the theme tune by John Williams), and one man's ability to come to terms with it. One can be lonely while still surrounded by friends, relatives and colleagues... I've always fantisized that Michael and Linda were married, not so much because they loved each other, but because of their mutual loss and loneliness... Stephen and Angela were never truly reconciled, Stan and Axel just faded away, but John went from strength to strength with the support of his church and choir... These are just musings, but it's that sort of film... I'd never want any kind of sequel or, God forbid, a remake, but I'm interested in people's thoughts... So, what's it all about?..

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[–] boatlandmore 8 years ago

I'm from Buffalo, a North East steel town, so what I get from it, based on my blue collar, working class background, is - the central theme of how Vietnam cheated that generation of young men out of their chance at a normal life.

[–] Adams5905 8 years ago

That's a good answer... I'm a Brit, although I lived in NY for several years, and this had never occurred to me before, as I was only nine years old when Saigon was evacuated (I do remember it featuring on the TV news), but living on the other side of the world (in Belgium in 1975), it had little or no impact on me and my friends... It was only later that we realized just how devastating, corrosive and destructive the whole Vietnam experience was to this generation... Thanks for your insight...

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[–] boatlandmore 8 years ago

A good comparison is the song "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen. People think of it in patriotic terms, but that song is like a 3 minute version of this movie. Its' the same story. Middle class people sent to fight a rich man's war that changed their whole life experience & caused major problems for the ones that returned. All any of us want is the fair chance to make something of ourselves in our own way & Vietnam took that opportunity away from over 50K of them & screwed up everything for another few hundred thousand that came back to an ungreatful nation. Many of them are still feeling the ill effects of Agent Orange exposure & mental trauma from the things they saw way back then. Its' taken another 30 years for the country to heal up & finally give them the respect they deserve. What happened to them was not fair- a denial of their basic right to have a good life & in the end, all for nothing when we quit & left.