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| The original poster for the film |
LINDA. Y-you sure you're all right, huh?
MICHAEL. Yeah, I'm all right.
LINDA. What about your wounds?
MICHAEL. There's nothing. Just the usual complications, that's all.
Michael, still in uniform, walks Linda to work through the streets of Clairton.
MICHAEL. Linda, I just wanted to say how sorry I am about Nick. And how...I know how much you loved him, and I know that it'll never be the same. I just wanted to tell you that. Maybe...I don't know. Maybe you don't want to talk about it.
And she doesn't.
Michael is getting his gear when Linda comes home from work.
LINDA. No, don't go. I have all this food, I'll make you a nice sit-down dinner.
MICHAEL. No, I can't.
LINDA. Mikey. Why don't we go to bed? C-Can't we just comfort each other?
MICHAEL. No, I can't. Not here. I gotta get out of here. Sorry, I just gotta get out. I'm...I'll be...Look, I don't know...I feel a lot of distance, and I feel far away. I'll see you later.
Nick having a breakdown in the army hospital.
Michael and Linda.
This movie isn't easy. The pieces are not tied together neatly. Where is Nick? Where is Steven? Can the angelic blonde child with the toy gun (interesting) be the child of Steven and Angela (no)? Why does Michael never take off his uniform? What's he feel for Linda—and what's Linda feel for him? The experiences and emotions of the characters are so big and confusing that they can't seem to talk about them. So much is said without saying much in the film (I think at least).
1. What stuck with you from today's viewing? And why?
2. Clairton shares some similarities with Kovic's Massapequa. It's the Pennsylvania working class foundry town that could be used in any movie about a Pennsylvania working class foundry town. In fact, the scenes of the town were filmed in several different towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio. In the film, Nick expresses his love for the place and gets Michael to promise to bring him back home should anything go wrong in Vietnam. So what's there to love about Clairton? In fact, what's the picture of the town we're given in the film? How's the town doing economically? Is everyone happy about living there?
3. Which character do you find yourself drawn to the most? Why?
4. Finally...what's the movie about? Do not start and end with about what war does to people, nor about small town life, nor about what Vietnam did to America. Much of the confusion it is engendering comes from, I'm thinking, trying to figure out how all these parts in the movie come together. So attempt to put them together.
Enjoy your weekend. I expect all to be present and awake on Monday morning, Music Midtown be damned.
The scene that stuck with me most from today when Nick was about to sleep with the prostitute and then saw a baby in the room. The desperateness of the lady struck me. Despite there being a child in the room, probably the her child, she still had to have sex with men probably to gain money to support her family. I felt sad watching this scene knowing that many other men were willing to sleep with her next to a crying baby and the fact that she may not have had choice or control over her situation.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the town does not seem wealthy, there is a strong sense of community. In the beginning of the film, the boys are bonded by a brotherhood. They are risk takers and lovesick adolescents, but are ultimately protected by the tight knit community they belong to. Because a majority of the town seems to be Russian immigrants or first generation, the bond between them is stronger due to a shared experience. Though the town centers around a steel meal suggesting a working class economy, people do seem to find happiness in the community.
I am drawn to Micheal because I can't figure him out. From the time he wouldn’t give Stanley his boots, he seemed a bit off. His mysteriousness adds a wisdom to his character, as if he knows something the other characters or the audience don’t know. His love for Linda is also complicated, and then further complicated by the PTSD from the war.
The movie is about a group of boys who follow propaganda about the war's glory which leads them to an unexpected bloody mess of swamps and gambling. They are able to escape their deaths and being held hostage by beating the enemies in a game of Russian Roulette. Nick is saved by a helicopter, while the other two swim to safety. Micheal’s friend dies, and he joins his troops who are evacuating a burning village. I am still confused about the scene with Nick in the city, but I am assuming that once he healed, he was too changed and confused to go back home so he stays in Vietnam gambling. Linda awaits her true love, Nick who’s disappeared, but tries to settle for Micheal when he comes back to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Linda, Micheal has become distant from his old self. He then becomes obsessed with finding Steve despite others warning him to not go look for him.
1. The two things that stuck with me the most from yesterday’s viewing, were the scenes in which Nick almost sleeps with the prostitute, and second, when Michael finally comes home to Linda. Nick’s interaction with the prostitute opened my eyes to yet another aspect of the war, and it made me sad to see the woman so desperate that she was forced to sleep with men beside her crying child. The scene between Michael and Linda struck me as very uncomfortable and awkward, but then what is one really to do or say in a situation such as that?
ReplyDelete2. Despite the town’s struggling economic status, there is a thriving sense of community that makes Clairton special. Similarly to Kovic’s upbringing in Massapequa, I imagine that a childhood in Clairton would be filled with the same types of liberties and freedoms that Kovic and his friends enjoyed. Another thing that the two towns have in common, is the presence and influence of religion. In Clairton, the church serves as a community hub and in this way, I imagine that religion has a significant impact on shaping the moral values of the community. Yet one thing that sets Clairton apart is the fact that the town is mostly made up of Russian immigrants and first generation families. I think that their heritage and the way in which they were brought up greatly informed Michael, Nick, and Steve’s outlook on the world and the way in which they view themselves in it, and also contributed to what they see as their duty to serve their country.
3. Similarly to Alondra, I am very intrigued by Michael as a character. He presents himself as very straightforward and practical, yet at the same time there is an enigmatic air to him. Michael is an extremely complicated figure, as we can see from his relationship with Linda, and I think that he is deeply disturbed and wounded in a way. Yet he chooses to close off that tender, feeling part of himself, perhaps because he believes that it would make him appear weak, and so we are left struggling to figure him out.
4. I’m still not exactly sure what the movie is about. On the one hand, yes, it is about Vietnam and the war, but that is definitely not all that it is. Maybe it’s a love story, or a story about the bond of brotherhood. Maybe it’s a tragedy – perhaps it is both. Perhaps it is about the American dream and story of immigrants in this country. In one sense it is a coming of age story, yet it also reveals how as humans we tend to revert back to our most basic, childlike selves. However, regardless of what category this movie falls into, one thing is certain: that the film manages to capture all aspects of the human experience, from the small daily routines and interactions, to the major milestones of life such as Steve’s wedding, to the horror and destruction and lasting impressions of war.
The scene where the blond child plays with the plastic toy gun in the bedroom has stuck with me. It perfectly fits together everything we have talked about in Born on the Fourth of July in one single moment. Additionally, the scene where Michael walks Linda to work has stayed with me because it is the single most intimate moment of the film so far. Even the wedding was not necessarily intimate (it was just a lot) but this scene is the first time I’ve seen any “soft side” of Michael.
ReplyDeleteClairton is not doing well economically. Linda keeps tires on the roof just to hold in the heat. I would not say that people are “happy” there, which is why I think everyone drinks so much. Clairton is one of those towns where the only happiness can be derived from the other people who live there. I think this bleakness and indistinct nature of the town makes for a great backdrop for character development as there are not the distractions of a prosperous, lively city, etc.
I find myself most drawn to Nick. I am curious as to why Michael would “only go hunting with Nick.” What about Nick has made Michael choose him over the other men? Nick appears to be the only person (besides Linda) that Michael lets himself get remotely close to, yet he releases his grip on the helicopter, therefore Nick, during the river/bridge scene. Why does Nick never write Linda, while (I’m assuming) Michael has? It is hard to find any explanations for many characters in this film, but Nick is the only one who I cannot describe with either “he makes some sense” or “he’s just different like Michael.” Nick somehow fits into both the “standard” and the “Michael” category, the strange in-between of the film.
I honestly just don’t know what this film is about. I started writing a response, decided to sleep on it, and woke up just as clueless as I was before. Maybe the film is about the definition of Home. What makes this country home for immigrants? Do we have an obligation to our home? Maybe our obligation to our home, our country, is to serve. Nick tells Michael not to leave him in Vietnam and to make sure to bring him back home. Michael appears to be going on a quest to bring Steven home. Michael says something along the lines of “It only takes one bullet to kill a deer.” They bring the deer Michael kills home. Maybe this ties into the theme of love. Maybe Linda is the bullet that brought Michael home (but then why wasn’t she enough for Nick?) There are so many themes and topics in this film, I don’t know what I would deem to be the sole “message” of the film.
What has stuck with me from the viewing was from Nick’s breakdown in the hospital. When asked if a nametag is his, Nick says “No, it’s his” as the camera briefly cuts to a soldier who is missing both his arms. I don’t fully understand why it has stayed with me since the viewing, and watching it again doesn’t really help. As I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve struggled to figure out if Nick was telling the truth or being sarcastic. It is a comment that isn’t acknowledged by the person asking him the questions, and one that doesn’t really fit. That is likely why it has stuck with me, like how you can’t help but notice when something doesn’t fit into a pattern correctly.
ReplyDeleteWhen we see the town we see a factory town that isn’t wealthy. It is full of working class people, the majority of which work in the factory, that, while they aren’t well off, living in a trailer, seem to be happy. I think that Clairton has the appeal of most small towns. It seems to be a close community where everyone seems to know everyone, as long as the factory is open there are stable, reliable jobs, and it seems to be in the middle of a beautiful mountain range (the type that Pennsylvania is known for).
I am intrigued by Micheal. For me, he seems to be the main character of the movie. He is clearly the most competent deer hunter, so the title of the movie may be about him. I really wonder what happened to him during the war. We don’t see what got him to the village, as he was there alone before the others arrived, we don’t know why he was so calm under the pressure of the Russian roulette, and don’t know what happened led him to the Russian roulette game from the evacuation he found.
I agree that the movie is really confusing. It doesn’t focus enough on the war or on ‘small town life’ to be about them, it seems to be about the men who fought in the war, and those that stayed behind. As you said earlier in this blog, Clairton is a basic small working class town. These characters could be anyone, and, while their experiences almost certainly have been exaggerated, it's about them. The movie isn’t about what the war did to the men, it's just about the men that fought in the war. Or at least that’s what I think so far, I’m hoping it becomes more clear as the movie continues.
1. The thing that stuck with me the most from yesterday’s viewing was the immense uneasiness and suspense I felt when Michael was alone with Linda; after seeing how he acted with her at the wedding, how he carries a photo of her in his wallet, how he was most likely traumatized from Vietnam and how the movie was going to be “intense” I thought that Michal was going to snap and either rape Linda or commit suicide. That stuck with me because the time when the two of them is so prolonged and intense, I was very anxious, almost waiting for Michael to break from his trauma.
ReplyDelete2. I think what the characters love about Clairton is the culture; everything from the orthodox wedding to the vodka toasts is almost stereotypically Eastern European; there are even Russian babushkas carrying the wedding cake. We are given a picture of a vibrant, if somewhat impoverished, town full of somewhat “normal” people. Not everything is sunshine and steel production however: we see from the wedding scene and it’s buildup that the town has problems, most notably being the mistreatment of women. Also, the men in the film seem to enjoy leaving the town regularly to go deer hunting; if they really wanted to be there why would they leave regularly?
3. Honestly I don’t think I understand any of the characters enough to be drawn to one of them. I suppose I empathize most with Nick in the hospital, mostly because it is clear that he is going through crushing trauma and survivor’s guilt; that survivor’s guilt is what I believe drives him to “play” Russian roulette in Saigon.
4. This movie is complicated, messy, confusing and all around hard to follow; this is a movie about life. It is about how you struggle in the face of adversity, how you put others’ needs ahead of your own, about how to deal with your past, and how to either wallow away or fight for your place in the world.
Prompt One: Today’s (now like two days ago) viewing kept me wondering about what happened in Vietnam. The sudden transition back to Clairton, after Nick’s departure from the roulette place, leaves me with lots of questions that I hope will be answered soon!
ReplyDeletePrompt Two: I mean, it was safe, Midwestern (the Ohio bits), and wholesome. And there is certainly a cultural difference between this time period and ours. After work lets out, you’re kind of free to go where you like… to the bar, straight home, or maybe even to the “Mountains” to shoot some deer. It’s the magic of being able to do what you’d like, of knowing everyone and everywhere. The familiarity that is best packaged alongside the words “Small,” “Pennsylvania,” “Industrial” and “Town.” Clairton might not be doing that well with the $$, just look at the housing situations and places of primary employment for our main cast, but there is a pervasive happiness, nonetheless. The pride of the Eastern European population in their children, alongside a collective love for the boys who went to war… just recall how happy everyone was at Michael’s return.
Prompt Three: I’m not really drawn to any of the characters. But like I mentioned in my first answer, Nick’s actions leave me wondering… maybe I am drawn to him most of all.
Prompt Four: Ok… whenever we want to know what a movie is about, usually the title is a good place to start. The Deer Hunter: probably Michael. And what did he say, “It’s best to finish them in one shot?” Well, I have it for you. This is the story of a man. He hunts deer on the weekends. He finishes them in one shot. His car is fast, and he’s the one who gets drunk at his best friend’s wedding. He’s going off to war tomorrow, and he finishes everything in one shot. But there’s also this woman, Linda. He carries a photo of her in his wallet, and so does his best friend, Nick…. He’ll need two shots for this one… Hmm, you know what else involves one shot? Russian Roulette. In fact, this is a film about single chances and missed opportunities. It’s about a good life that makes sense and then suddenly doesn’t. It’s about a deer hunter who goes off to war and comes back as the sun is setting. Clairton isn’t what it used to be (see prompt three) because somewhere along the way this deer hunter fired his gun and missed.
1. I am curious about Angela and the baby. Because the movie is not straightforward, I am left with questions after every scene. I want to know why she cannot speak anymore and who the father of her baby is. There have already been multiple instances of domestic abuse with Linda and at the reception, and I wonder if she has suffered abuse.
ReplyDelete2. Most people in Clairton are working class. The men work in a steel mill and aren’t particularly well off. However, Clairton has a strong sense of community. When Michael comes home from the war, everyone he sees on the street and in the store acknowledges him. The people are friendly and care about one another, even if they do have to drink to make it through the day. While people like Michael and Linda are not happy in Clairton, most people seem to be comfortable in the town.
3. I am drawn to Nick the most. The scene with his mental breakdown in the hospital really moved me. I can imagine that he was dealing with trauma from the war and imprisonment and facing survivor’s guilt, as he was the only one of his friends that made it onto the plane. I am also drawn to him because there is a lot of mystery surrounding his current status. He jumped into the car with French man, and he is presumably still in the underground Vietnamese Russian Roulette circuit. This is a crazy story, one which I hope is finished in the last part of the movie
4. I'm not entirely sure if there is a simple answer to this question, but I will try my best. I think the movie is about men. We watch the boys grow up and see the different ways they react to awful situations. The movie deals with human emotions and masculinity. The story is about men from the perspective of men. The only women in the movie are wives and girlfriends. Linda is only important to the storyline because she is the object of two men’s affection and waiting on her boyfriend’s return.
I was shocked and alarmed when Nick walked into the room with the French men and they were playing Russian Roulette. I was transported back to the Vietnam countryside. I became worried that I would have to go through another emotional roller coaster, but since I did not know the men who were shooting themselves, I had less anxiety. I could not believe that Nick held the gun to his head. I suppose he felt like he had nothing to lose, so why not. I was also so confused that Micheal was in that room, but I suppose that that is just how movies go.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick loves Clairton because it is his home and it is all he has ever known. He has so many memories from Clairton, and everyone he has ever loved lives there. The town appears dilapidated and the only nice building is the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The only activities in the town are going to church and getting drunk. The steel mill seems to be doing fine, so most of the men are employed. I think that most of the people in the town would prefer to be somewhere else, but they have built up a strong community, and feel like they owe it to the community to stay. I also think it would be hard for anyone to save up enough money to move.
3. I like Nick because he seems to be the most even keeled of the characters, that is until he has his breakdown. I like how he genuinely cares about Linda and wants to make her happy. He seems to know what to say to calm people down and how to dissolve a conflict, like when Micheal and Stan got into a fight about boots. I used to watch Hairspray all the time. Christopher Walken, Nick, plays the father in Hairspray, which I used to watch all the time. It is so interesting to see him as a young man in this film and in a very different role.
4.This movie is about brotherhood. It begins with a tight-knit group of friends who have spent their entire lives together and appear to be quite close. As the movie progresses they grow farther and farther apart, until they hardly speak with one another. The first real tension that the viewer sees is between Micheal and Stan when Micheal refuses to give Stan his boots because Micheal views Stan as a constant nuisance who needs to learn a lesson. Anegla’s baby is not Steve’s and is most likely one of his friends’. Micheal tells Steve to shoot himself. Nick runs away with a French man. Micheal avoids his homecoming party. No one knows where Steve has gone. Near the end, the brotherhood appears to be completely dissolved.
The scene where Michael tells the cab driver to pass his house full of people awaiting his return from the war stuck with me. Clearly, it shows a change in his character from the man who would go to the bar with his buddies everyday after work. This scene made me sad because it seems like Michael has some internal issues that he is trying to run away from. I think that this shows how distant Vietnam has made him feel from his home.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the town of Clairton seems to be struggling economically, the people seem to be close. As Mike walks the streets after returning from Vietnam, he is seen shaking hands with lots of people. Also, when Michael enters the grocery story, all the women and men working there embrace him. I think that these scenes say a lot about what is to love about Clairton. The closeness of the town is what makes Nick tell Michael to promise to bring him home. It is why the people seem to be happy living in the town. Also, the immigrant community plays a role in the tight knit society of hard working people.
I find myself most drawn to Michael. In my opinion, Michael is the only character that is developed enough at this point to even begin to comprehend. His affection for Linda is understandable and it makes his character likeable, whereas the other characters are less developed.
I think that the movie is about real life. The different pieces of the movie seem very confusing and there does not seem to be a theme. It is messy and the parts don’t connect just like life. The characters don’t say deep one liners and the dialogue is riddled with curse words and insults. Some of the characters do not develop and there is no moral or commonality between it all.
I was struck by the scene where Michael has purposely driven past the welcome home party and collapses in the hotel room. It’s so restrained but devastating. I think this scene is the most he lets himself go emotionally after getting back from Vietnam, and just seeing him curled up against the wall, for all that he looks very put together, is rather telling of how much his experiences have impacted him. It wasn’t entirely clear if he was crying or not, but the side of his head that he kept touching would have also been where that he held a gun against his head during the torturous game of forced Russian roulette. It sort of mirrored how distant and lost Nick was at the hospital, down to pulling out the picture of Linda from their wallets. However, I think that Michael’s reaction was more about coming home without Nick than it was strictly about Linda.
ReplyDeleteThe town is solidly working class, and the employment opportunities there are all blue collar jobs, such as working in the foundry, or, in Linda’s case, at the local grocery store. I get the sense that the town has probably seen better days, though it’s not in a recession or anything. However, it doesn’t seem like it’s growing either, and there aren’t many opportunities to get out. Certainly, not everyone is happy. It wouldn’t be surprising if part of the reason the three men set out to Vietnam is to escape the drudgery of foundry work, just as Kovic wanted more glory than restocking shelves. I think I remember Michael, in particular, saying something about feeling confined by the town. At the same time, it’s understandable why Nick loves it there. For one, he mentions the trees and the mountains, which, despite not actually existing in Pennsylvania, are quite gorgeous. The place itself has beauty. Moreover, it’s clearly home to Nick. Especially for the three main characters, there is a strong, Russian orthodox community with religious and cultural traditions that tie them together. There’s such a sense of support there, even if it might be stifling. For example, the entire community mobilizes to make the wedding a huge, grandiose event, and the mothers and grandmothers are rather obviously in everyone’s business. At the same time, it seems as if this community also turns a blind eye to Linda’s abuse by her alcoholic father. Since her world is restricted to this community, it’s not simple for her to escape, either, but for the lucky fact that Michael’s cabin will be empty for the next few months.
Probably Nick because he has undergone the most drastic change, and because I have no clue what is happening to him now. Although all three men have been affected by their wartime experiences, Pre-Vietnam Nick came across as sort of the perfectly understanding sidekick for Michael, and as someone with some pretensions to culture, which seems the opposite of the necessity and vulgarity that governs war. His clothes are fancier and frillier than the other guys, and he is inclined to almost poetic musings that he summarily dismisses. It’s clear that he feels at home and loves the landscape of Clairton. He’s more normal and approachable than Michael, who is already rather withdrawn and broody pre-war, which somehow makes it more devastating that he is so visibly changed. The loss of his home in such a way that he simply doesn’t remember or care about all the people he’s left behind is haunting.
DeleteI’m not sure yet, but I think it is significant that the movie is titled, “The Deer Hunter.” So little time was spent on the actual deer hunting part of the movie, which makes me wonder what thematic point it makes. Michael makes a point of telling Nick about killing with a single bullet, and in his confrontation with Stan, he’s waving around a bullet while making his cryptic “this is this” speech. Killing a deer with a single bullet means that it suffers less. Perhaps there’s something to be said for the veterans in the same vein, where, assuming Nick is out there playing Russian roulette for money, the idea of risking death from a single bullet is more attractive than the feeling of dying slowly and coping with the war. If he has lost all hope, it might at least give him a feeling of greater control over the situation, since he’s choosing the danger instead of it being forced on him.
1. One thing that stuck with me from today's viewing was how much weird like energy I get from Linda. Something is definitely off about her. She loves Nick but wants Micheal to "comfort" her and personally I feel like she's really hard to read. I think that Nick's pre-war self is such a great, outgoing, loving guy and she just seems like she's got a lot of secrets and something is for sure wrong with her. Of course she is mourning that Nick is off the grid but it seems like it is more than that.
ReplyDelete2. I think one positive thing for sure about Clairton is the tight-knit community it seems to have. Everyone is all super close and everyone is friends with everyone so even though the town might not be doing the best economically or it might not have the greatest attractions or fun things to do on the weekend, I for sure think it is less about the place and more about the people. When Nick begs to be taken "home", he wants to see these people again. I think that they could eve come to see him in Vietnam and he would still get a home-y feeling because they are there.
3. I think the character that I am most drawn to right now is Nick. His whole thing with the Russian roulette place and then the hospital intrigues me because I can't quite figure out what's going on. Is he playing Russian roulette for money now or is he being rehabilitated in a hospital? Also, how did he even get to a hospital from where he last was? From a distance and usually Nick seems so normal in comparison to the other characters like Micheal and Linda, but now we're starting to see this other side of Nick that I want to know more about.
4. Honestly, I have no clue what this movie is about. I know that something is off back in the hometown and something traumatic has happened with Steven but I can't quite figure out how every part of this movie ties together. It starts with some young men who have their whole lives in front of them and are similar to Ron Kovic in that they are excited to go fight in a war that they know nothing about. It jumps from Vietnam, to back in Clairton, to a hospital, to a sketchy Russian roulette club, and I'm not really sure what point the movie is trying to make.
1. What stuck with you from today's viewing? And why?
ReplyDeleteI think what stuck with me is the moment that Nick goes to the phone and almost calls home, but then puts the phone down. I think this moment stuck to me the most because it foreshadows the change that Nick goes through after the war. He realizes that home is unachievable and begins to find distance, much like Micheal says later on.
2. Clairton shares some similarities with Kovic's Massapequa. It's the Pennsylvania working class foundry town that could be used in any movie about a Pennsylvania working class foundry town. In fact, the scenes of the town were filmed in several different towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio. In the film, Nick expresses his love for the place and gets Michael to promise to bring him back home should anything go wrong in Vietnam. So what's there to love about Clairton? In fact, what's the picture of the town we're given in the film? How's the town doing economically? Is everyone happy about living there?
I think the town itself is not what Nick loves, but the people in the community. As from what we can tell in the movie, the town is not doing amazingly well economically, and could be seen as a small industrial town. However, at that moment, he knows there are people he loves waiting for him back in Clairton, such as his friends and Linda.
3. Which character do you find yourself drawn to the most? Why?
I am probably drawn to Nick the most, as I feel like at this point, he seems more empathetic or relatable than the other characters. In the beginning, it is shown that he watches out for all of his friends and those that he loves. He is usually the peacemaker of the group, being able to know when one has crossed the line.
4. Finally...what's the movie about? Do not start and end with about what war does to people, nor about small town life, nor about what Vietnam did to America. Much of the confusion it is engendering comes from, I'm thinking, trying to figure out how all these parts in the movie come together. So attempt to put them together.
Overall, this movie is confusing and hectic, much like life is. When looking with context, during this time period, these characters could be anyone. The movie doesn’t really focus on war as much, but rather the people going into it and how their relationships grow together, break, and change after the aftermath.