Freeview (UK) film of the day : The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter (1978 176min.) [ITV 10.35pm &+1]

Oscar-winning drama starring Robert De Niro. In a small Pennsylvania steel town, three close friends plan their final hunting trip before they leave for service in Vietnam. Ahead lies a shattering experience at the hands of the Vietcong that will change their lives for ever.

Michael Cimino's elegant and poised film is about the psychological and physical effects on the US national psyche caused by the exposure of a generation of young men to the horrors of jungle warfare and the desperate need for those lucky enough to return home to receive proper care and recognition for their efforts, both at a national and a local level.

It takes it's time to move the action to south east Asia, but once there the horrific brutality of the daily existence is represented with skill building to a central scene which is among the most tense every committed to film.

The entire cast are perfect with the central characters (played by Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep) all brought to life perfectly by the skill of those involved.

Cimino won an Oscar for his controlled direction which provides a further contributory element to a film that is rightly considered one of the finest that US mainstream cinema produced during the seventies.