One Shot the Making of the Deer Hunter

Book excerpt: A behind?the?scenes? look at the making of the Oscar winning film. 'One Shot' the making of The Deer Hunter is written by Jay Glennie, with unparalleled access to the Robert De Niro Archives.The large format book takes a comprehensive look at the landmark British film. Released to celebrate the film winning the most coveted of movie awards, the Best Picture Oscar in 1979 'One Shot' includes exclusive interviews with cast & crew (including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Chris Walken, John Savage and many more), EMI Film producers, Universal Studio executives and a loving foreword from Jeff Bridges for his friend, director Michael Cimino.Featuring stunning on?location images, many of which have never been published before, this book is the definitive account of the unlikely and often difficult journey from page to screen of Michael Cimino's iconic film. A controversial film about a controversial war 'One Shot' details how Cimino took the playing the of Russian Roulette as a metaphor of the US involvement in Vietnam and in turn gave us one of cinemas greatest anti?war films ever. Glennie examines how with Cimino at the helm the film, initially contracted to have a running time of two hours, became a three hour and four minute epic, resulting in the budget doubling from $7 million to $14.5 million and the departure of two producers.From Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Chris Walken, famed cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and their colleagues on the film we gain an understanding of the pressures and pleasures of shooting a film on location with a director who is determined to fulfil his vision.