The Deer Hunter | Michael Cimino, 1978
A triptych in widescreen. In the centre, four men (standing, left to right: Axel, Nick, Michael, Stan) joyfully carry their newlywed friend Steve and his wife Angela out of a party on their shoulders. These men are very close friends and have known each other their whole lives. They work together in the steel mill that forges the economic backbone of their small Pennsylvania hometown, and spend their time hanging out in the bar or taking hunting trips to the mountains. In the left edge of the frame is a partially visible banner that reads: “Good Luck Michael, Nick and Steven”. This party is doubling as a send off. Michael, Nick and Steven have (voluntarily) enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War. High school portraits of the three as teenagers are mounted on American flags and displayed with great pride on the walls of the hall, and the precarious pile of gifts, close to toppling over, gives an idea of the close-knit nature of this town. These men are loved here, and people want to wish them well. As the bride and groom are carried out of the room by their friends, they’re all leaving the party behind, looking back at a crowd of applauding guests for one last time. The only other people in shot are an elderly couple to the right hand side, sitting away from the party. A man rests his head on a woman’s shoulder and wraps his arms around her as she reclines, smiling, a picture of happiness. This group of friends stand between love and war, and dance through the middle. They think they can have it all, that the war is a brief interruption to the rest of their lives, and that once they’ve served their patriotic duty they can come home again and pick things up from where they left off. But, whether through naivety, ignorance, misinformation, or something else, they don’t know the reality of what they’re getting themselves into. They don’t realise that this moment of unbridled joy is the absolute peak of their lives. They will never be old and in love. Nothing will ever be the same again.