Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. I don't know all the films that have been mentioned. I want only to add the The Deer Hunter is extremely disturbing to me because it is so powerful, and yet as you say it's racist and distorted. You can't dismiss a work of art that's accomplished just because its viewpoint is in some ways despicable, and The Deer Hunter isn't an isolated example. One might find Sam Fuller's approach to war dubious (as well as his approach to pretty much everything else!), and yet there's no doubt that he's a powerful filmmaker. You just have to present Cimino with huge caveats; you can't say his movie is without artistic merit, just an "exploitation flick." It's much more serous and artistic than that phrase implies. You yourself grant it's "well made." It's a lot more than just "well made." I basically agree with you, Oscar, on this, about being infuriated and deeply disturbed by Deer Hunter,but I think it's too easy a dismissal to call the film a "racist exploitation flick."