This article contains mention of graphic violence, suicide, and drug use.
Summary
- "The Deer Hunter" is a war epic that exposes the atrocities of combat and its effects on the human mind, particularly for the fragile character Nick.
- The final emotional scenes, including the Russian roulette game, have stirred controversy but remain impactful after forty years.
- The film's ending, featuring the song "God Bless America," showcases the characters' deep connection to their country despite their emotional scars from war.
Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter was a Best Picture winner and war epic that followed three childhood friends from a blue-collar town in Pennsylvania, Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage), and Nick (Christopher Walken) over the course of the Vietnam War. The Deer Hunter is a true story for soldiers who lived its harrowing narrative, with an ending that remains one of the most shattering pieces of cinema forty years later. The movie does not hold back from exposing the atrocities of combat and their effects on the human psyche, particularly for Nick, its most fragile character who disappears into the underground gambling world of Saigon after the war.
Prior to going to Vietnam, Nick made Mike promise not to leave him behind, something which haunts Michael when he returns to the United States. When he finds out that an anonymous benefactor has been sending money to the VA hospital where Steven is receiving treatment, he suspects it must be from Nick. Mike tracks Nick down and finds him playing Russian roulette for cash, but the Nick across the game table is far removed from the beautiful laughing man he was in the Pennsylvania backcountry. Despite their dramatic efficacy, the final emotional scenes have stirred up a lot of controversy that's kept The Deer Hunter in discussion since 1978.
Nick’s Death & Final Russian Roulette Game Explained
Despite Mike's best attempts to get through to Nick with memories of their home, his old friend doesn't seem to register any of it, and they each take turns spinning the chamber and pulling the trigger, landing on empty chambers. The icy tone of the game is in sharp contrast to the time they played in the jungle during the war, when a confident Mike told a frightened Nick that all he needed to do was "put an empty chamber in that gun." Both roulette scenes are intense but have different underlying purposes; one highlights the indomitable fire of the human spirit, and one shows when it's gone out.
Here, he desperately pleads with a detached, reptilian Nick to show any sign that he remembers him and where they come from, grasping at anything he can do to trigger Nick's connection to humanity. He almost has his chance when Nick repeats the words, "One shot, one shot," moments before pulling the trigger, but the hollow smile on his face is short-lived as he fires and succumbs to the single bullet in the chamber. "One shot" refers to the method Michael used when the pair hunted deer together, signifying the optimal way to kill without the animal suffering, and now, on some level, Nick knows that one shot frees him.
Caught in the grip of PTSD, where all he can do is relive his trauma, Nick turned to a game that represented the horrors he'd seen and was still consumed by. He knew that upon returning home, soldiers became shells of their former selves with a fragile psychological state that wasn't easily reintegrated into mundane society, and while it's debatable how lucid Nicky was when pulling the trigger, it's clear he didn't want that fate for himself back on American soil. He accepted that the man he used to be already died in Vietnam and there was no going home, something Mike would learn for himself later on.
What The “God Bless America” Coda Really Means
The "God Bless America" coda that plays at the end of The Deer Hunter is both inspirational and bittersweet. The song is one of the United States' most patriotic anthems, and by including it at the end of The Deer Hunter, the film is reaffirming American values. Despite the trauma experienced by Michael, Nick, Steve, and the rest of the men who served overseas in Vietnam, they each have a deep connection to their country and its identity, even if it's left them each emotionally scarred for life in ways they have only begun to understand and deal with.
By singing it together, the main characters in The Deer Hunter are able to not only bond through their shared experiences but also release a plethora of complex emotions to achieve some sort of catharsis. Listening to the melody, it's impossible to ignore the innocence that they all shared before going to war in contrast with the profound transformation it put them through. The war robbed them of their idealism and replaced it with cynicism and nihilism, but the act of uniting together over a patriotic song about America's virtues reminds them that at least they have solace in each other after everything they've been through.
Why Mike Lets The Deer Live In The Deer Hunter’s Ending
There's a moment in The Deer Hunter's ending where Michael has the chance to shoot a deer but doesn't take the shot, a simple act that carries great significance. After everything he's experienced in Vietnam, he's learned an appreciation for life, and hunting doesn't carry the same appeal that it used to. Like his friends, he's undergone profound changes after witnessing the atrocities of war firsthand, so the act of killing a deer, once something that brought him fond memories with his buddies, is no longer the carefree pursuit that it once was and now feels overshadowed by the lives of the men he took overseas.
RELATED: 10 Great Movies That Are Too Emotionally Intense To Watch Twice, According To RedditShooting a beautiful, innocent creature doesn't align with how Mike sees the world now. Where once the deer represented a challenge or a prize, it now embodies the innocence of his pre-war life that he can never get back. There is only the way things were, and the way things are, and by not shooting the deer, Mike is giving credence and recognition to the fact that he'll never be the same again. Finally, not killing the deer shows personal growth on Mike's part and the fact that violence isn't as appealing as a more peaceful existence that's symbiotic with the living things around him.
How Nick Sends Steven Money Despite Losing His Memory
One of the most confusing aspects of The Deer Hunter's ending is the fact that Nick is the person sending Steve money from Saigon despite losing his memory. When Michael finds Nick, he's clearly become addicted to heroin and has been living in a stupor for some time, only to regain pieces of his memory in what prove to be his final moments. Nick barely registers Mike's presence, much less an old friend from his hometown, making it hard to believe that he's been Steve's mysterious benefactor all this time.
The simplest explanation is that at one point in time when he started playing Russian roulette for money, he had rational thought enough to find Steve's hospital and send him the winnings. Slowly over time, he became dependent on heroin to cope with the trauma of his wartime experiences, and his remaining in a stupor suited the men making money off the American soldier willing to play the dangerous game. It shows that Nick wanted his life to have been for something, and that he still had a small connection to his friend even if he could never go home and even if he lost sight of it along the way.
The Deer Hunter’s Historical Inaccuracy Controversies & Effect On America’s Veteran Relations Explained
The Deer Hunter is considered one of the top Vietnam War films, but its accuracy has long been debated by Vietnam historians who have maintained that there's no evidence of the Vietcong ever forcing American prisoners of war to play Russian roulette. In addition, the film has been cited for its racist portrayals of the Vietnamese people, particularly during the Russian roulette scenes. As far as the narrative of the movie is concerned, the game represents the gamble that soldiers take going to war, particularly childhood friends who grew up together and had different ideas about what serving their country would look like.
The Vietnam War wasn't looked upon favorably by the American public, and American soldiers were not treated well both during and after the conflict. Many returned to a country that did very little to rehabilitate them or provide resources for their mental health, resulting in some choosing to self-medicate in ways that resulted in death. Taken as a whole, The Deer Hunter's ending highlighted the damage the war did to individuals, and helped the American public treat soldiers with more empathy and compassion for the sacrifice they made for their country.
