And it made about zero sense that we were there, at least for the men that fought and died there anyway. Got it? All you really need to remember is that it’s a proxy war against communism – fought in a far away land. Not to spoil the results of the war for you – but, it didn’t go well for the pro-democratic forces, with Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all becoming communist countries. And the pro-communist allies of the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies. It was a proxy war between the pro-democratic forces of the United States, South Korea, Philippines, and Australia. Well, the Vietnam War was a conflict that percolated in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos from 1955 until the fall of Saigon in 1975. And then we watch as the trauma from their experiences there reverberate throughout their lives. If you are unfamiliar with the film – and refuse to watch it, it deals with a group of men that are sent to Vietnam. And today, it is the Vietnam War that is the larger context for the Deer Hunter. Last week, we discussed the historical setting of Doctor Zhivago, and the Russian Revolution to get a better context for the oppression we saw featured throughout that particular film. (If you haven’t seen Deer Hunter yet, the film is like 43-years old at this point? Go check it out – it’s free on prime.) Anyway, here’s a trailer for the film if you haven’t seen it yet – then it’ll be spoilers throughout. I think I’m getting ahead of myself! hahaha. And at the end, I couldn’t easily scrape off the residue of their despair… the psychosomatic craters are everywhere, and I was just struck by how a generation of men were lost because of the Vietnam War. But then the plight of these men from the industrial heart of America grew on me. As it started, it seemed slow, and extraordinarily choppy from an editing stand point. Which, I’ll be honest, grew on me over the course of the run time. Maybe we could learn a bit by walking through what Hollywood thinks to be are the best 100 films of all time. We discuss indie, low budget, mindjob movies mainly. If this is your first visit to one of my Top 100 Movies of all time posts, basically, the long and short of it is… Here at THiNC.

Deer hunter trailer