When Michael Cimino’s epic western, Heaven’s Gate, was released in 1980, New York Times critic Vincent Canby proclaimed it “an unqualified disaster.”
Canby’s scathing review of the film triggered a critical avalanche, and the subsequent box-office disaster destroyed United Artists studio, ending a decade of maverick filmmaking that distinguished Hollywood in the 1970s.
Several American critics now view Heaven’s Gate as a masterpiece (it always had European advocates). Madison’s filmgoers will (re-)discover a flawed but exhilarating film when the UW-Cinematheque presents the 216-minute digitally restored director’s cut in 4070 Vilas Hall on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
Harvard-educated James Averill (Kris Kristofferson) serves as marshal of Johnson County, Wyoming, in 1890. He’s infatuated with the local madam, Ella (Isabelle Hubert), but so is his friend Nate Champion (Christopher Walken), a hired gun for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. This personal conflict turns political when Averill discovers that the stock growers have hatched a state-approved plot to kill 125 undesirables — mostly Eastern European immigrants.
Cimino attempts to outshine 1970s Hollywood mavericks like Coppola, Altman and Malick with wildly ambitious art direction and sound design. The results, lensed by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (McCabe and Mrs. Miller), are often breathtaking. A courtyard dance at Harvard and a roller rink social in Wyoming mesmerize with their movement and rhythm. A simple shot of Averill struggling to put on his boot will compete for the most beautiful screen image you will see this year.
Cimino had vision, but he was tone deaf. His deconstruction of the western delivers a ham-fisted critique of American imperialism, and his screenplay alternates between purple prose and clunky clichés. In key scenes he clumsily stages violence that mimics The Godfather and Bonnie and Clyde, with far less impact. But little of that matters when the images themselves sing.
The 2012 restoration features some concessions to the 1980 critics. Roger Ebert described the film as “one of the ugliest films I have ever seen,” and observed “there’s not a single primary color in this movie.” The restoration brings out the vibrant hues that Ebert and others yearned for.
Fortunately, Cimino lived long enough to appreciate the critical reevaluation of the film — he died in July at age 77. The hyperbole from Canby, Ebert and other critics has faded, but Cimino’s images remain.
