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The Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1978):
[El cazador]
La terrible aventura de tres amigos, acostumbrados a cazar juntos en los montes de Pennsylvania, que se alistan para combatir en Vietnam y demostrar su virilidad, pero vuelven destrozados por la experiencia, es una de las mejores, más sinceras y famosas películas sobre la intervención norteamericana en esa absurda guerra. Basada en una historia de Michael Cimino, que también se encarga de la direccióny parte de la producción, es la mejor de sus películas, con grandes escenas que acreditan su talento creativo, como la bella celebración de la boda ortodoxa y el terrible juego de la ruleta rusa. (A.M.Torres)
Protracted film about the Vietnam experience is extraordinarily powerful and original. Cimino uncorks a fascinating multitude of emotions and insights about war and violence. Essentially, the story deals with three ypong steelworkers from a Pennsylvania steel town who are devastated by the horror of the war. Superb perfomances by De Niro, Walken an Streep. Also with George Dzundza and Chuck Aspegreen. Academy Awards: picture, director, supporting actor (Walken). Nominations: De Niro, Streep (supporting actress), and screenplay written directly for the screeen (Cimino, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K.Redeker and Deric Washburn). 183 min.
Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola (1979):
Parte de la novela El corazón de las tinieblas, de Joseph Conrad, para hacer un gran fresco sobre la guerra de Vietnam. El director se vio obligado a hipotecar su productora, su casa y su trabajo para poder terminarlo a su entera satisfacción. Narra el viaje del capitán Willard (Martin Sheen) a lo largo de Vietnam para acabar con el coronel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), que se ha erigido en dictador de un pequeño imperio en mitad de la jungla. El encargo de su eliminación, ordenada por el propio ejército de Kurtz y Willard, obedece oficialmente al riesgo que supone el desequilibrio mental de un brillante militar transformado por el uso del terror. Es una de las mejores obras escritas, dirigidas y producidas por Coppola. Destacan algunas escenas, como el ataque de los helicópteros al poblado vietnamita a los acordes de La cabalgata de las Walkirias.
Platoon. Oliver Stone (1986):
A powerful, gritty account of the Vietnam War as experienced by a platoon of "grunts" (infantryman) stationed near Cambodian border. The sadism, frustration, horror, and inner conflicts among the troops are brilliantly captured by writer/director Stone, himself a Vietnam veteran. A vivid dramatization of an accident similar to the massacre at Mi Lai village is specially powerful. Stone's depiction of war deglamorizes combat partly by eliminating the glory and larger-than-life heroics of standars films. Battle scenes seem frighteningly real because neither the soldiers nor the viewer knows when and from where the enemy will strike, amphasizing the chaos of battle. A grim but compelling account. Con Kevin Dillon, Richard Edson, Forest Whitaker y Francesco Quinn. Oscars: película, director y edición (Claire Simpson). Nominaciones: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, guión (Stone) y fotografía (Robert Richardson). 111 min.
Gardens of Stone. Fancis Ford Coppola (1987):
Coppola once again turns to Vietnam for his subject matter in this heartrending drama about the effects of the war at home. Caan, making a screen comeback after a decade of unsuccessful films, stars as a career army officer who, after several years in Vietnam, believes the war to be a mistake. Currently a part of the Old Guard, the company that services Arlington Cementery, Caan becomes a surrogate father to an ambitious young recruit who desperately wants to fight in Vietnam. An overwhelming sense of sadness and loss prevades the film as repeated scenes of burials point to the inevitable conclusion. Coppola offers no clear-cut statement of the trauma that was Vietnam, but instead captures the confusion of the people at home, whose loyalties and beliefs were divided. James Earl Jones excels in a supporting role as Caan's army buddy. Also with D.B. Sweeney, Lonette McKee, Mary Stuart Materson, and Dean Stockwell. 122 min.
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