Cimino's Epitaph

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Last Friday's announcement of the death of Steven Bach, the former UA exec and author of "Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate" (which was later retitled as "Final Cut: Art, Money and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate") reminded me what a legendary Hollywood filmmaking book it was and is.

Bach's passing also reminded me to re-watch the Michael Epstein's 2004 documentary based on the book.

The entire Epstein documentary, lasting 78 minutes, is on YouTube in eight parts. I missed the '04 showings at the Toronto and New York film festivals and on the tube, and it's not available on DVD -- but its very easy to watch on YouTube, and anyone who's never seen it is urged here and now and now to take the time.

I hated Heaven's Gate when I first saw it 28 and a half years ago, and I couldn't stay with it when I tried it a second time at home about six years ago. I therefore feel it's still worth quoting N.Y. Times critic Vincent Canby when he noted that director Michael Cimino's approach to his subject in Heaven's Gate "is so predictable that watching the film is like a forced, four-hour walking tour of one's own living room...for all of the time and money that went into it, it's jerry-built, a ship that slides straight to the bottom at its christening."

I attended the second critics screening at the Cinema I on November 17th or 18th of 1980, and stood at the bottom of the down escalator as those who'd seen the afternoon show were leaving. I asked everyone I knew what they thought on a scale of 1 to 10. I'll never forget the deflated, zombie-like expression on the face of journalist Dan Yakir as he muttered "zero."

History long ago noted that renowned critic F.X. Feeney is primarily responsible for recasting Heaven's Gate as a film deserving of revisionist respect. I never bought into this but Feeney's efforts in this regard are a reminder of what a genuiinely caring and impassioned film critic can do when he/she puts his/her mind to it. Or at least was capable of doing in the old days.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 31, 2009 at 11:37 AM

comment #1

JT says ...

I just popped DEER HUNTER into my MAC. Creepy.

Posted by JT at March 31, 2009 12:18 PM

comment #2

Edward says ...

I'm probably in the minority for admiring much of Heavan's Gate, but then I also enjoyed Ishtar. Maybe it's time to revisit these two films.

Posted by Edward at March 31, 2009 12:29 PM

comment #3

TVMCCA says ...

For HEAVEN'S GATE completists, Criterion should try to acquire the rights and put together a DVD box with the original cut, the shortened 1981 version and Epstein's documentary.

Posted by TVMCCA at March 31, 2009 12:48 PM

comment #4

actionman says ...

wasn't someone making a doc called Searching for Michael Cimino at one point?

Posted by actionman at March 31, 2009 12:48 PM

comment #5

MilkMan says ...

I will watch this in its entirety when I get home. Thanks for this post, Jeff. Great stuff.

Watching all of Cimino's films, I feel as if he is the only filmmaker to have picked up where Peckinpah left off. He's part of that continuum.

Posted by MilkMan at March 31, 2009 12:50 PM

comment #6

actionman says ...

I still really, really want to see Cimino's The Sunchaser.

I am a big fan of his work.

Posted by actionman at March 31, 2009 1:04 PM

comment #7

BurmaShave says ...

Got me sucked in, watched 40 minutes of it. Fascinating. Really funny to hear Dafoe narrating the tale of a debacle he was fired form. And not that those who were interviewed aren't, but I think it's pretty classy Walken didn't take part in the post-mortem.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 31, 2009 1:22 PM

comment #8

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Heaven's Gate was the film that forever ended my being a sucker for artists vs suits, art vs commerce claptrap from critics like F.X. Feeney and my knee-jerk reaction to such.

I so wanted to love this film but just couldn't. When you read Final Cut, you imagine you will at least see images to rival those that Nestor Almendros and Haskell Wexler created for Days of Heaven, but instead you wonder if they just couldn't find lens cleaner in Montana.

If anything, Feeney is a more of a cautionary tale that at the end of the day no matter how impassioned and thoughtful, a critic is only human and film is a very subjective art form.

Ebert gets the best line on Gate:
It is the most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I've seen Paint Your Wagon.

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at March 31, 2009 1:41 PM

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

Edward: Ishtar's gonna play at the New Beverly tomorrow.

Posted by D.Z. at March 31, 2009 2:12 PM

comment #10

LexG says ...

HUGE fan of Cimino and of HEAVEN'S GATE.

It's not a masterpiece but is endlessly fascinating in spite of its many, many flaws. The spectacle and insanity of it make it a must... I hated it too on VHS circa 1985 (I was only 7 when it came out), but have seen it several times since and it's definitely worthy of some respect.

Also a big fan of YEAR OF THE DRAGON and, to a lesser degree, even parts of THE SICILIAN.

His DESPERATE HOURS isn't particularly distinguished beyond the acting and some of the outdoor-nature sequences when he opens up the action. It also might now be notable as the last Mickey Rourke film where the Mick still looked like himself.

SUNCHASER is very New Agey and goofy, but I remember kind of liking it. Shame it's not on DVD, since it almost NEVER makes the rounds on cable. Distinctly remember it playing for ONE WEEK at the AMC Century City around Christmas 1996, never to be seen again.

Posted by LexG at March 31, 2009 2:47 PM

comment #11

Gordon27 says ...

The strange thing about his 'Desperate Hours' is how he cripples his own talent with the story; it's a movie that is meant to be claustrophobic, largely confined to the single space. But Cimino's greatest abilities are at odds with that; the best scenes in the movie take place outdoors.

Posted by Gordon27 at March 31, 2009 3:01 PM

comment #12

irvingberlinalexanderputz says ...

For sheer spectacle, Heaven's Gate is seldom matched. The graduation waltz, the line of immigrants that Kristofferson passes, the roller rink dance, the final shootout, all are amazing. It's the failure to string it all together compellingly that's the problem. This would be one of the greats, even at 4-5 hours, if he'd been as successful at that as with the visual talent shown.
I've felt sometimes, watching this, that integrating the conflict between Kristofferson and Hurt, and the triangle of Kristofferson, Walken, and Huppert wasn't accomplished enough, and throwing in the background of the Johnson County War just jumbles it up further.
The biggest problem was editing and writing.

Posted by irvingberlinalexanderputz at March 31, 2009 4:47 PM

comment #13

TVMCCA says ...

Re actionman on THE SUNCHASER:
excerpt from YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvQHUtr8uqg

Posted by TVMCCA at March 31, 2009 7:37 PM

comment #14

TVMCCA says ...

If memory is correct, there was an interview with Cimino for the CBS CABLE series SIGNATURE in 1981; remembering the host's first name was Greg. As Wikipedia just reminded me, the series was distinguished by keeping the camera on the interviewee at all times.

Posted by TVMCCA at March 31, 2009 7:42 PM

comment #15

Ray says ...

Thanks a lot Jeff. I just blew an hour watching that documentary ... which was fascinating, by the way.

Posted by Ray at March 31, 2009 8:36 PM

comment #16

Aris P says ...

Cimino was in Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue a few years back (I want to say 7 years ago...?) I don't recall if it was an article, or if he was one of the spreads, though I recall he was photographed sitting in some kind of convertible.

His face, much like Mickey Rourke's has also undergone a fantastical transformation. In fact, I think I remember reading somewhere at that time, that he may have undergone some bizarre sex change operation? Or that he had had such extensive plastic surgery to his face that it had lead to great speculation about his sexual orientation.

Anyone remember the picture in VF, and or the other rumors?

He's fascinating. Thanks for post Jeff.

Posted by Aris P at March 31, 2009 9:19 PM

comment #17

stq says ...

Wow, thanks for the link to that documentary. I read the book years ago and loved it. This looks like a terrific companion.

Posted by stq at March 31, 2009 11:01 PM

comment #18

frankbooth says ...

I watched The Desperate Hours with a friend on one of our "bad movie" nights. There were a few laugh-out-loud histrionic moments, but I mainly remember that it was just slack. The family, who were supposed to be hostages, seemed to come and go almost at will. This is notable because the Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter, as contrived as it is, is one of the most tense sequences I've ever sat through.

The only other thing I remember is that David Morse was the only cast member who managed not to make an ass of himself. Somehow he came off okay, and that impressed me.

Posted by frankbooth at March 31, 2009 11:26 PM

comment #19

moviemaniac2002 says ...

The saddest thing for me about the whole
"Heaven's Gate" debacle....the destruction of
United Artists. They forged a reputation of working with filmmakers on the basis of...."Here's your budget...stay within it and you can make the movie you want to make..." And operating from that premise, they took the good with the bad...some of the films were non-starter, non-entities...but more often than not, they ended up with a bunch of films both critically acclaimed and
commercially successful....(Any current studio exec would drool over UA's unerring instinct for nurturing and supporting franchises...the Bonds, the Pink Panthers, the 'Dollars' trilogy.)
But they were finally betrayed and undone by
Cimino....a 14 carat faker with a bloated ego newly reinflated with "Deer Hunter" Oscars, an ego now swollen to Kanye West/Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloon proportions. So 'wonderboy' Cimino, twirling his Oscar like a
martial arts Kendo fighting staff, browbeat UA into
pouring millions more down the black hole of "Heaven's Gate"....Cimimo missed his calling...he'd be more suitable as an AIG executive than a filmmaker.
RIP for both Steven Bach and UA's pre-Cimino
glory years.

Posted by moviemaniac2002 at April 1, 2009 9:53 AM

comment #20