The Deer Hunter.

Review #1458: The Deer Hunter.

Cast: 
Robert De Niro (SSG Michael "Mike" Vronsky), Christopher Walken (Cpl. Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich), John Savage (Cpl. Steven Pushkov), John Cazale (Stan), Meryl Streep (Linda), George Dzundza (John Welsh), Pierre Segui (Julien Grinda), Shirley Stoler (Steven's mother), Chuck Aspegren (Peter "Axel" Axelrod), and Rutanya Alda (Angela Ludhjduravic-Pushkov) Directed by Michael Cimino.

Review: 
"I don't make movies intellectually, I don't make movies to make a point, I make movies to tell stories about people."

War can lead to plenty of actions, and films revolving around (or about) the war is one of them. Vietnam was no different, although it certainly reflected differently than other film revolving about war, whether involving the war or coming home from it, and there certainly are differences from films such as The Green Berets (1968) when compared to this, Go Tell the Spartans, or Coming Home (all 1978) or later ones like Apocalypse Now (1979) and Platoon (1986). It should only figure that a film like this would come from an unknown in Michael Cimino, who was certainly an eccentric when it came to a rise to stardom that was as quick as his fall in a varied career of seven films. He was a graduate of Michigan State University in graphic arts in 1959 along with subsequent study at Yale for art that was followed by work in advertising and commercials during the 1960s (with a stint in the Army reserves for six months). He decided to take on screenwriting in 1971, with his first script being Silent Running (1972) with Deric Washburn and Steven Bochco. He helped write Magnum Force (1973) with John Milius before writing Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), which was liked enough by Clint Eastwood to have Cimino make his feature directorial debut. He would ultimately win two Academy Awards for his involvement with this film, which he also co-produced and co-wrote (winning for direction and for Best Picture), but his next film Heaven's Gate (1980) turned out to be such a tremendous failure (with far more budgetary overruns than this and numerous edits that has a complicated legacy) that led to a curtailed career.

It isn't too surprising that the film went through plenty of turmoil in production. The budget rose from eight to fourteen million dollars in budget, and Cimino's perfectionism seems to really come out during its wedding sequence (which makes one really feel like they are stuck in a wedding), with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond once describing him as being "difficult to deal with...very stubborn...He wanted it the way he wanted it." There are four different writers credited for the film: Deric Washburn wrote the screenplay while co-writing the story with Cimino (also co-producer), Louis Garfinkle, and Quinn K. Redeker (the original idea was done by the latter two about Russian roulette in Las Vegas) There is certainly an allegorical feel to this film, albeit not without its own controversy about where it tries to go with its depiction of war (the Russian roulette sequences with POWs is most prominent in that discussion). The basic nature of this film is a portrait of three steelworkers having their lives changed after fighting in the Vietnam War, and it is De Niro and Walken who help to steady a film wracked with plenty of show and say about itself and the nature of change that goes in a man when seeing war, which makes for a curiously decent (if not tremendously flawed) experience for 184 minutes, a mixing of commonplace and agony. De Niro (who had apparently prepped for the role by hanging around with steelworkers in bars and visited their homes as one of them) proves quite compelling with strength that we see come out during the film even as it gets darker and darker. Walken proves just as devastating, rolling along with the agony of war and chance that makes for a soulfully fascinating watch whenever he is present, whether involving roulette or writhing in bed, and the sequence between him and De Niro at the end with roulette (the second time, with the first being just as tense) being the best part of the film in seeing the degree of madness one can do in the company of others. Savage makes the last piece of the veteran trio count just fine, an involving performance that goes along with the others that accompany some interesting moments with Cazale (in his final role before his death) and Aspegren (an actual foreman at a steelworks) that share clear contrast of bonding from the first to the last half of the film. Streep rounds out the cast with grace for a role that could've faded in the background with a less talented actress but here is done with care.

On the whole, the one feeling I had with this film was a sense that I should have liked it more than I did. I acknowledge that the film works fairly well as a tragic look on the nature of friends changed by their experience in war, but its attempts at building a detailed story that borders on excess for a ultimate three hour length nearly overwhelms the whole experience into chaos. The Vietnam sequences are the best part of the film, in part because I really seem to remember them better (because one needs authenticity, it was actually filmed with rats and mosquitoes) than the events that transpired before them, although the parts after coming back from the war do work in cultivating heartbreaking curiosity. Whether there is enough or too much setup to make this story truly work, the film does turn out to be worth a watch in the achievements that it does do in its acting and some of its riveting somber moments, which make up for its tests of patience that have made it a masterpiece in some eyes and tedious in others, and I find myself firmly in the middle. I didn't love what I saw, but I sure didn't hate it either.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Dog Day Afternoon.

Review #1450: Dog Day Afternoon.

Cast: 
Al Pacino (Sonny Wortzik), John Cazale (Salvatore "Sal" Naturale), Charles Durning (Sergeant Eugene Moretti), James Broderick (Agent Sheldon), Lance Henriksen (Agent Murphy), Chris Sarandon (Leon Shermer), Penelope Allen (Sylvia), Sully Boyar (Mulvaney), Susan Peretz (Angela Wortzik), and Carol Kane (Jenny) Directed by Sidney Lumet (#035 - 12 Angry Men, #036 - Network, #404 - The Anderson Tapes, #1065 - Deathtrap, and #1446 - Murder on the Orient Express)

Review: 
"I don't think of myself as anything but an actor struggling to find the next role and when I do get the role to try and see if I can find any way into it."

"While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film is which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing."

How can one talk about esteemed method actors and not think about Al Pacino? Although Pacino had ambitions of baseball as a teenager, he soon shifted focus to acting, for which he would have to take modest-paying jobs to help finance study, with one job being a mailroom employee for the magazine Commentary. He acted in small plays in New York, but he wasn't accepted into the Actors Studio when applying as a teen (he would attend the HB Studio for four years until being accepted into the Actors Studio). He cited Lee Strasberg and the Studio as a key effect on his future career in putting all of his focus into acting, and the two would even appear in films together in later years (most notably with The Godfather Part II). He soon shifted to stage work (which he has continued to make on-and-off star appearances), performing for the first time in 1967, with his debut in Broadway coming two years later. That same year, he also made his first appearance in film with Me, Natalie. The 1970s proved to be a tremendous decade for Pacino, starting with notice in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), and it helped him get attention for his next role: The Godfather (1972), for which he was picked over prominent other choices. One of the eight films in the decade Pacino did was Serpico (1973), which he did with Lumet to tremendous success (including an Academy Award nomination, which he received four other times in the decade). Lumet was known for his distinct prolific work over a lengthy career in films (over 40 in a half century starting with 12 Angry Men) and television (primarily doing work in television in the fifties), noted for their social realism and naturalism while mostly set in New York (where he grew up after being born in Philadelphia) that served him well as someone labeled an "actor's director".

The film is very loosely based on real-life events that occurred on August 22, 1972, where failed bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturale held nine bank employees hostage for 14 hours in attempts to take money for an sex change operation for the former's lover, which resulted in one death and 20 years for Wojtowicz. The exploits of the robbery were covered in an article ("The Boys in the Bank" by P. F. Kluge) for Life magazine, and while writer Frank Pierson wanted to interview Wojtowicz personally in prison, an agreement couldn't be reached about how much to pay for the story. Wojtowicz would later state that only 30% of the film was accurate, although he did find that Pacino and Sarandon were captured accurately (the actual amount robbed was over 37 thousand in cash and over 175 thousand in traveler's checks, and this doesn't even count the allegations from anonymous sources that it was actually organized by a Mafia family). For an biographical film (of sorts), it is interesting to note the improvisations done through the dialogue at times (which keep with the structure of Pierson's screenplay), since Lumet encouraged the actors to show spontaneity when it came to rehearsals (a hallmark of his when it came to establishing trust with his actors) that would help in making lines come out naturally (the famed Attica! line was improvised, for example).

One always seems to feel on the edge when it comes to a film like this, where you can feel every little moment of tension and furor that is headlined by a tremendous performance from Pacino. He molds himself into a frantic pace in a tour-de-force achievement of wired hysteria that we cannot take our eyes of, where our view of him through the film and the people that see him through their television or right in front of their eyes seem to muddle each other into something worth pondering about. The 1970s were certainly a divergent time for America, particularly in light of what people saw on their television screens or in the streets, and seeing someone holding a bank hostage isn't too different. Even now the film proves relevant because of the nature of fame (or infamy) in the eyes of a curious audience looking for some sort of person to relate to or stand with (regardless of how one feels about glorifying/boosting certain actions) in social media. The others prove just as well in following along on a natural tense pace, such as Cazale (who did over a decade of work in the theater before making his first of five film appearances in The Godfather) and his well-placed subtlety as the lead man to a situation that gets worse and worse by the minute. Durning proves resilient with growing tension through some bluster that takes a good chunk of the first half more so than the second for effect. Broderick and Henriksen fill the screen nicely, while Sarandon delivers well in evoking curiosity and humanity for the second half of the film, particularly through the phone call sequence with Pacino. When the film opens itself up in tension and details, we care to see where it all may lea to without too much judgement or impatience. On the whole, while it may prove a bit too much to hold for all of its 125 minute run-time, this is a film worth checking out to see the raw spirit of the times play out in fascinating detail from Pacino, who makes for a frantic yet always interesting presence worth viewing to the bitter end.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.