movement the deer hunter
Francis Ford Coppola ( born April 7 , 1939 ) is a semi - retired American film director , producer , and screenwriter . He is considered to have been a central figure of the ___MASK94___ wave of filmmaking . The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic war drama film co - written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steelworkers and their service in the Vietnam War . The film stars Robert De Niro , Christopher Walken , John Savage , John Cazale ( in his final role ) , Meryl Streep , and George Dzundza . The story takes place in Clairton , a small working class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania and then in Vietnam and in Saigon , during the Vietnam War . The film was based in part on an unproduced screenplay called The Man Who Came to Play by Louis Garfinkle and Quinn K . Redeker , about Las Vegas and Russian roulette . Producer Michael Deeley , who bought the script , hired writer / director Michael Cimino who , with Deric Washburn , rewrote the script , taking the Russian roulette element and placing it in the Vietnam War . The film went over - budget and over - schedule , and ended up costing $ 15 million . The scenes of Russian roulette were highly controversial on release . The film won five Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director for Michael Cimino , and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken , and was named by the American Film Institute as the 53rd greatest American film of all time in the 10th Anniversary Edition of the AFI ' s 100 Years ... 100 Movies list . In 1996 , The Deer Hunter was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' . John Holland Cazale ( August 12 , 1935  March 13 , 1978 ) was an American actor . He appeared in five films over a period of six years , all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture : " The Godfather ", " The Conversation ", " The Godfather Part II ", " Dog Day Afternoon ", and " The Deer Hunter ." He appeared in archival footage in " The Godfather Part III ", also nominated for Best Picture , making him the only actor to have this multi - film distinction . From his start as a theater actor , he became one of Hollywood ' s premier character actors , starting with his role as the doomed , weak - minded Fredo Corleone opposite longtime friend Al Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola ' s film " The Godfather " and its 1974 sequel . Cazale chose to continue acting despite being diagnosed with lung cancer . He died in New York City on March 13 , 1978 , shortly after completing his role in " The Deer Hunter ". George Dzundza ( born July 19 , 1945 ) is a German - born American television and film actor . An actor ( or actress for females ; see terminology ) is a person who portrays a character in a performance . The actor performs " in the flesh " in the traditional medium of the theatre , or in modern mediums such as film , radio , and television . The analogous Greek term is , literally " one who answers ". The actor ' s interpretation of their role pertains to the role played , whether based on a real person or fictional character . Interpretation occurs even when the actor is " playing themselves ", as in some forms of experimental ___MASK24___ , or , more commonly ; to act , is to create , a character in performance .