The Deer Hunter

The Dear Hunter

Robert De Niro's character, Merle, says the following "It's gonna be all right. It's gonna be all right. Go ahead, Nicky. Go ahead, Nicky" in the movie The Deer Hunter; in an infamous clip from the Russian roulette scene in the film. I will be analyzing the aforementioned clip mise-en-scène, breaking down the elements within the clip that make it a memorable scene to cinemagoers. Directed by Michael Cimino, Production design by Michael Cimino, Michael Deeley, John Pevrall, and Barry Spikings with Art Direction by, Rob Hobbs, and Kim Swados.

Director, Micael Cimino captures the intensity of the scene by his use of close up shots. The uses of close up shots create a facial landscape the viewer can study. When Merle, played by Robert Di Niro, who is a captured soldier in Vietnam war, looks at his captors with uncertainty, and this uncertainty is visible by the wrinkles, and sweat on his expression when he is handed the loaded revolver. The camera switches from Merle, to Nicky (Christopher Walken) the other player in the Russian roulette game who is visibly shaken, and fearful of the game. Cimino does this to create a link between the two by establishing an emotional link between the two. They contrast each other in comparison to the main guard , a VA fighter who is for the most part stoic to the situation being faced by Merle, and Nicky. The viewer knows this because of Cimino's use of rapid frame changes between the captors, and captor, as the main VA fighter who is flanked by other guards watch the Russian roulette game unfold. The director uses a camera metaphorically as a game of roulette, because you never know when the camera is going to capture the expression of a character.

In this clip the viewer is brought into a grimy, humid, and dark place behind enemy lines, within the jungles of Vietnam. This is achieved by the use of lighting within the scene. The lighting inside the hut, where the Russian roulette takes place, is lit by available sunlight. This adds a sense of bleak hope for Merle, and Nicky who are the main participants in this game of death. If the viewer looks to the backdrop we can see that the sunlight outside of the hut is brighter, than the light illuminating the table where Merle, and Nicky find themselves.

The Deer Hunter takes place in a small town in Pittsburgh, Clairton, and somewhere in the jungles of Vietnam, as it wasn't directly mentioned in the film. The film follows the lives of three working class men, who enlist in the military to fight in the Vietnam War, and their post-war lives, as well as they try to settle back into their civilian roles in society. Their small town is strongly influenced by their Russian Orthodox Church upbringing, which can be seen in the wedding ceremony between John Savage's character "Steve", and "Angela" (Rutanya Alda) in the first act of the film.

The costuming in the film is as authentic as a photograph taken during the Vietnam War era itself. The use of worn US solider fatigues show the viewer, that three captives Merle, Nicky, and Steven have been in the hands of VA for quite a while. Robert Di Niro's character, Merle sits opposite of Nicky, with the VA main guard in between; beaten, and worn, his military fatigues are