Films that are three hours long often require a lot of stamina. In the case of Those Who Go Through Hell, this time helps the viewer sink even more into the film. In this film, Michael Cimino made the horrors of war so close that after watching the drama you feel like you were part of the story yourself.
The anti-war film Those Going Through Hell can now be seen with a subscription on the streaming service Mubi.
The Horror of War: Through Hell tells of three violent fates
The intense war drama follows friends Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) as they go to the Vietnam War and experience the hell of war first hand. Her story is told from her decision to join the Army to her return home.
The film is divided into three parts: the time before, during and after the war. Each section is examined in detail. Despite action-packed scenes, the focus is always on the inner lives of the protagonists and their traumatization caused by the war.
Since the main actors are friends, their stories are closely intertwined, although they end in very different places in the third part of the film. Michael and Nick in particular, as well as their relationship with Linda (Meryl Streep), provide interesting and exciting moments.
Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken made the Russian roulette scene legendary
The three friends are taken prisoner by the Viet Cong in Vietnam. They are kept in cages in a river and have to compete in pairs to play Russian roulette. With this torture method, the Viet Cong bet on who will survive and who will die.
While Michael appears to be accepting the torture, Nick is very clearly afraid. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken not only carry this scene brilliantly, they also give the audience the opportunity to do so Horror of the moment convey when the trigger of the revolver is pulled.
Walking Through Hell takes a more comprehensive look at war than other films
While other anti-war films looking at the Vietnam War focus primarily on the Vietnam period, director Michael Cimino had a different plan. Due to the length and spatially separated sections of the plot, Going Through Hell seems like a complete trilogy.
The ups and downs of friendship and the examination of the inner lives of the characters make the film a unique character study of war veterans. Cimino doesn’t sugarcoat anything and doesn’t glorify his characters as heroes. Instead, he portrays them as broken men who show that there were no winners in the Vietnam War.
Those who go through hell, on the other hand, was a winner. Namely at the Oscars in 1979. There the film was nominated in 9 categories, of which it won 5 – including the Oscar for Best Film.
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