A study of Michael Cimino's 1978 Vietnam war movie The Deer Hunter in the BFI Film Classics series

Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter was met with both critical and commercial success upon its release in 1978. However, it was also highly controversial and came to be seen as a powerful statement on the human cost of America's longest war and as a colonialist glorification of anti-Asian violence. Brad Prager's study of the film considers its significance as a war movie and contextualizes its critical reception. Drawing on an archive of contemporaneous materials, as well as an in-depth analysis of the film’s lighting, mise-en-scène, multiple cameras and shifting depths of field, Prager examines how the film simultaneously presents itself as a work of cinematic realism, while problematically blurring the lines between fact and fiction. While Cimino felt he had no responsibility to historical truth, depicting a highly stylized version of his own fantasies about the Vietnam War, Prager argues that The Deer Hunter’s formal elements were used to bolster his troubling depictions of war and race. Finally, comparing the film with later depictions of US-led intervention such as Albert and Allen Hughes’s Dead Presidents (1995) and Spike Lee’s Da Five Bloods (2020), Prager illuminates The Deer Hunter’s major presumptions, blind spots and omissions, while also presenting a case for its classic status.

"Brad Prager’s book is an illuminating look at [The Deer Hunter]’s critical reception and its significance in the war film genre, while examining its realism and comparing it to other depictions of US-led military intervention. It’s a cracking read that puts the film in a new light, which in itself is fascinating as the film is just five years away from its big 50th anniversary … [The Deer Hunter] deserves a spot on any enthusiast’s bookshelf" - Film Juice