Heaven's Gate

There is just no beating around the bush when people mention Michael Cimino's 1980 film, "Heaven's Gate." You either love it or hate it...there is only black and white when discussing this film. Having just seen the reconstructed director's cut, I will follow that trend and state: "Heaven's Gate" is a superior film.
I first saw the butchered, approximately 2+ hours version in the theaters several years ago and had to agree that it was pretty bad: incoherent, of course... badly edited...in both sight and sound. At the time it reminded me of those badly made European productions in which every actor is speaking a different language and after the fact, the film is dubbed into Italian or French. The film was literally a mess.
In its glorious 3-½-hours+ state, though, "HG" is a pleasure to behold. It is a grand saga dealing with greed, the loss of innocence and how money corrupts...to name a few issues it tackles. It's scope is on the grand scale of such films as Luchino Visconti's "The Leopard," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" and Bernardo Bertolucci's "1900." What makes these films special, thoughtful and important though is that they all tell their stories from the personal perspective of individuals: and "Heaven's Gate" does this as well...in the person of Jim Averill (Kris Kristofferson).
The film is gorgeous to behold (Vilmos Zsigmond was the photographer) but one big scene bears mentioning: the scene shot in the huge dance hall (actually called Heaven's Gate) in which the entire town is in attendance, everyone roller-skating to fiddle music, several cameras swirling around with the crowd...so involving, so dynamic as to take your breath away. On the other side of the coin the scene with Ella (a young, fresh-faced Isabelle Huppert) and Nate Champion (a rouged and mascara'd, Christopher Walken) in Nate's digs couldn't be sweeter: innocent and personal...Nate brushing off bread crumbs and straightening Ella's place setting on the table, Ella, nervous and jittery...is unforgettable.
All of the acting is first-rate but Walken, I think steals the movie with his quirky portrayal of a somewhat fey, yet obnoxiously macho, Nate. In one particular scene, Nate senses that Jim is back in town and tells Ella: "I can feel when he is around." In another scene, Nate sneaks into Jim's room and watches a sleeping Jim with, for want of a better word, Desire in his eyes. Nate also picks up and rubs Jim's boot lovingly: interesting, distinctive stuff especially in the context of this great big, masculine film.
Isabelle Huppert is also a standout as a Madam, torn between her love for both Jim and Nate and as such is the catalyst for the jealousy and fire in the scenes between Walken and Kristofferson.
At the very least, this version of "Heaven's Gate" will stand the test of time as a personal and loving statement to a period in America when we began to lose our way and our innocence to boot. At the very most, this version will survive as a testament to how wrong a lot of people can be about a film's worth and importance. If you are a fan of American Films, you owe it to yourself to check out this beautiful, resonant, complex and resoundingly heartfelt movie.

1980 marks the 25th anniversary of one of the strangest media events ever. There was an eagerly-awaited invitational preview on a Thursday for a four hour Michael Cimino western called HEAVEN'S GATE. The whole industry came out in force to see Cimino's first movie since his Oscar-winning THE DEER HUNTER (1978) and, at a budget of $40 million, a movie that had bankrupt United Artists. The result was apparently an unholy disaster-so awful that Friday opening day regular engagements were abruptly cancelled. Reviews were venomous, focusing much more on the hefty budget and how an arrogant auteur filmmaker had brought down a studio with his excesses. Roger Ebert was particularly hostile. The 219 minute movie was sent back to the editing room with Cimino and several original editors. In mid-1981, an all-new HEAVEN'S GATE was brought out at only 149 minutes. The same hostile reviewers, except for Kevin Thomas in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, still hated the movie for being too long and not having a coherent story. I saw that shortned print, adored the movie, and sent a rave review to Mr. Cimino. I got a very positive thank you letter from the filmmaker himself saying it was a hit in France. In America, I think the 149 minute print played for only two weeks in deserted theaters. Just for good luck, animal rights groups who had not seen the movie in any form were protesting the mistreatment of horses in the film.

Thank God for home video! While heavily censored TV prints of HEAVEN'S GATE still run 149 minutes, the uncut 219 minute roadshow version (which importantly never got a theatrical run for the general public) is available on letterboxed videocassette and DVD. Let us wish it a Happy 25th Birthday, forget all budget problems, and just evaluate what is up on the screen for 219 minutes.

According to writer/director Cimino, the Johnson County War took place in 1892 Casper, Wyoming. It was a battle waged between Eastern European immigrants and American cattlemen. The cattlemen, led by a despicable villain named Canton (Sam Waterston at his nastiest), claimed that the immigrants were stealing cattle and land in exchange for sexual favors in a local whorehouse run by Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). Acting under authority of the President and Federal Government, Canton and his Cattlemen's Association came up with a death list with 125 immigrant names on it, including Ella. The movie's central protagonist is marshall Jim Averill (Kris Kristofferson in the performance of his career), who is in love with Ella. So is a bounty hunter named Nate Campion (Christopher Walken). How can the critics say there is no story here?! There is a passionate and romantic love triangle wrapped inside a powerful western conflict. As God is my witness, the uncut HEAVEN'S GATE is my favorite western of the last 25 years-yes, including Best Picture Oscar winners UNFORGIVEN (1992) and DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990), which are admittedly very good adult westerns also.

I have no idea what HEAVEN'S alleged $40 million budget would be in 2005 dollars. Probably $80 million, which is hefty, but not unreasonable for a four hour period western meticulously shot on location on magnificent Idaho and Montana locations. An entire frontier town (Casper?) was built in Kalispell, Montana. A working antique train was brought to the location. Nothing was too good for the genius who had won Oscars for THE DEER HUNTER only two years before. The movie's art direction got a 1981 Oscar nomination. The dusty sepia Panavision photography, by Vilmos Zsigmond, captures the look of antique photos. There were horse wranglers for dozens of horses, dance and skating instructors (for an exquisite extended "Blue Danube Waltz" at Harvard at the beginning and a memorable roller skating scene in the film's middle). David Mansfield's fiddle and mandolin score is unforgettably beautiful and haunting throughout, especially when "The Blue Danube Waltz" becomes a slow motion dirge during the latter battle scenes. The climactic battle is violent and seems to go on as long as the real 1892 cattlemen/immigrants battle. It is a horrible and beautiful sustained sequence--maybe lasting an hour of screen time--that is severely shortened in the cut TV print. This is one gorgeous piece of filmmaking by a master who admittedly let the movie get away from him. It IS too long and IS too pessimistic. But at least you can see where the money went. It is a true labor of love movie that, ironically, may be Cimino's finest films. I don't think it is quite as great as THE DEER HUNTER, but certainly it is better than Cimino's modestly budgeted subsequent films.

(PLOT SPOILERS-BEWARE!) It is impossible to discuss why I love the uncut HEAVEN'S GATE so much without discussing the 20 minute Prologue and five minute Epilogue. So many critics call these scenes extraneous and confused, but they are the very heart of the movie for me. The Prologue takes place at 1870 Harvard with Jim Averill as a young student in love with a young woman he is frustratingly too shy to talk to; they exchange smiles. Averill is haunted by this beautiful young woman all his life, as I am by a married young woman I loved at UCLA long ago and cannot get out of my mind. Joseph Cotten has a cameo as a head professor, and John Hurt is the class orator. Look at the end credits. Writer Cimino really did his homework-these are real speeches being spoken. And the dance on Harvard lawn, a lengthy and enthralling "Blue Danube Waltz", may be one of the American cinema's loveliest set pieces. Shockingly, it is sometimes cut for time on TV showings, instead of the overlong battle much later.

The Epilogue is the key to the whole movie for me. Study it. (PLOT SPOILER ALERT!) It is 1903, and Jim Averill is the sole survivor of the bloody Johnson County War. I won't tell you how or where Nate and Ella die. We are on a yacht off Newport, Rhode Island at sunset. Averill is below deck with a young woman. He has finally married at least a surrogate for the girl of his dreams from Harvard long ago and is still deeply unhappy. He lights a cigarette for his presumed wife, while staring off into space, lost in his dreams of the past. He walks back up on deck for one of the most beautiful final shots in the American cinema of the 1980's. (Beware of an old VHS tape version that omits this final scene and freezes on Jim below deck!) And Mansfield's music, as always, is incomparable.

So, the majestic and magnificent HEAVEN'S GATE, in its uncut 219 minute form at least, is a portrait of the entire lifetime of Jim Averill, from Harvard youth in 1870, to Wyoming marshall in 1892, to a lonely middle aged intellectual man in 1903 with all of his friends dead or long gone. It is so haunting, and Mansfield's exquisite music plus Zsigmond's sepia-tinted Panavision photography, again make it a truly special motion picture if you have a whole evening viewing slot. (There is an intermission on the letterboxed VHS copy I am reviewing.) Happy 25th Birthday, HEAVEN'S GATE!

(UP FRONT CAUTION: THIS MOVIE CONTAINS STRONG AND SUSTAINED VIOLENCE, HORSES AND TRIP WIRES, PROFANITY, AND SEX SCENES WITH FRONTAL NUDITY. REVIEWED FROM LETTERBOXED VIDEOCASSETTE.)

Like another of the reviewers on this service, I was in the audience during the opening week of Heaven's Gate in Manhattan. When I read in the newspapers a week or so later that it had been panned and was considered a "disaster," I was puzzled. I still am. The most puzzling comment of all that I have heard through the years is that the film is "incomprehensible," or "has no plot." I have no earthly idea why anyone would say that. Is it because we have become so used to short films that don't require us to think? The film's plot is very simple and very easy to follow. I don't know how anyone could be confused by it.

I'm also puzzled by negative comments about the acting. I had always loved Kristofferson's music, but until this film I felt that he was a lazy actor. Heaven's Gate made me a fan. The final expression on his face, frozen in pain, is exquisite. Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Jeff Bridges, Isabelle Huppert, Geoffrey Lewis, and Richard Masur are superb.

This film is a perfect comment on the Reagan years in American politics, although it was released only a month after his election. The idea of government troops swooping down on the side of big money has never been portrayed better. To those who have never seen the film, or those who inisist that it has no plot, I recommend that you rid your minds of all prejudice, and become ready to watch a film that will challenge the mores of American society.

It is difficult to watch Heaven's Gate without being fully aware of the film's history. It was the film that brought down a studio; it is the worst film ever made; it was a film made by an egomaniac director completely out of control; it is a complete and incoherent mess. And, as with many film legends, many of these claims are made by people who have never seen it. So, whenever one sits down to watch this 3 hour 40 minute epic, you cannot help but view the film through these prisms.

The current version of the film available on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD claims to be Cimino's original cut of the film, though that is hard to prove given that the 3+ hour version was never officially released. Studio heads panicked and yanked that version several days before the opening, demanding Cimino recut it to a shorter length. Apparently, this version available on video was "found" by the studio and released because of the enormous curiosity and history of the production. There has been no formal declaration that this version IS the final cut that Cimino had planned to release.

Is the film as bad as everyone says? The film that is available on video does has its problems. The audio mix is atrocious with much of the dialogue being lost in the mix of ambient sound. The opening sequence, though well executed, is totally unnecessary. The pacing of the first 40 minutes is slow, confusing, and a mishmash of scenes that the viewer is left to figure out its importance and meaning. The lead actor and the film's anchor, Kris Kristoferson, turns in a boring, leaden, one-note performance that further hampers the film.

But the film also has much going for it. The cinematography, always singled out as a highlight, is truly astonishing. Combined with the meticulous and accurate production work of the sets and costumes, the film has the unmistakable look and feel of being shot in the late 1890's. It has a compelling storyline that deals with the issue of immigration in a fresh and controversial way. The performances of the actors, in particular Hubert and Waterston, are excellent and go a long way in compensating for several weakly scripted scenes. And the music of David Mansfield is note-perfect. So when these elements are combined--as they are many times throughout--the film is very impressive, engaging, and shows enormous promise.

Where the film truly suffers is in the editing. I saw the original 2 1/2 version several times during its release, though it was not much better overall (it felt too short!), the storyline was clearer and there were a couple of expository moments that this version lacks. One could easily trim down the first hour to an improved, clearer, and better paced 30 minutes. It is the lack of structure that really injures this version. One almost gets the sense that the film is still in its rough-cut stage and is about 2 - 3 versions away from a finished product.

The DVD release is a huge disappointment. The master is taken from the laserdisc version and suffers an enormous loss of clarity. Because of this, viewers are only given a letterboxed version and not the preferred 16x9 presentation that this widescreen presentation deserves. The audio, though stating it is 5.1, is bland and muddled and demonstrates no delineation between front and rear. What is even more frustrating is that many of the Polish scenes lack proper subtitles, so the viewer has no idea what is being spoken. (There is no English subtitle track either.)

It is difficult to recommend this film to family or friends as you will never know what will be the reaction. If you are patient and understand that this is not a final version, then you are more forgiving of its faults and can enjoy many of its excellent moments. On the other hand, if you are expecting to see the Worst Film Ever Made, you have much that will prove that theory. It all depends from which prism you choose to view the film.

It's always 1 or 5 (the occasional 2 or 4 are just cowards...). This is a film you either adore or detest. Those who adore it (moi, for instance, as the 5 star rating clearly indicates) are usually very patient movie watchers who like to watch a film unfold at its own pace. How many films can you name that are still going through exposition an hour and half into the film?

David Bern once said that movies are nothing but pictures and images; stories are just a trick to get you to watch them. You could turn off the sound and mix up the reels (some probably think that happened when they saw it in the theatre), and this would still be a feast for the eyes. Cimino's lush vision of Montana is overwhelming. It's like a stroll through a moving Bierstadt exhibition. It contains pieces that are almost perfect acts of filmmaking - such as the skating sequence, which could stand alone as a short (the 1 star folks just stopped reading, muttering the word "dilatant" under their collective breaths).

But despite its cinematic saturation, Heaven's Gate has a powerful, complex story. It's a story about class barbarism, and how the American Aristocracy of the last century committed mass murder in the West, with the help of the Government and the Military. It has a love story between two people who wouldn't have touched each other in the "civilized" East. It has intense performances by Isabella Hupert, Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston, et al.

Yes, this is clearly not a film for everyone - in fact, if it was made for anyone, it was for Michael Cimino - but it is a film that some of us are glad was made. If you like LONG, CHALLANGING films by self-indulgent artists, rent it - and if you love it, you'll have to buy it; and if you hate it, well, you probably wasted five bucks and couldn't even get to the second tape...

If not the greatest western ever made, one of the three best, including THE SEARCHERS and HIGH NOON. The story, the settings, the music (absolutely captivating),everything is great. I love every minute of it. I've seen it more than 15 times and I would see it over and over again. It takes a great position among the greatest westerns ever made, such as (besides the ones already mentioned) THE OX-BOW INCIDENT, LITTLE BIG MAN, CIMARRON (the 1931 version), STAGECOACH, SHANE, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY and UNFORGIVEN. There you have my western decalogue. To rate it just with 5 stars does not seem fair: it deserves 10.

At this stage of video technology development, one would think that a Widescreen label on the DVD should necessarily mean Anamorphic, Enhanced for 16X9 TVs, etc. If not, then what's the point of a widescreen release? Furthermore if studios are going thru the trouble of relasing movies in widescreen format, not making the transfer anamorphic is just plain dumb. In any case, if non anamorphic versions are still being released they should be clearly labeled NON ANAMORPHIC instead of placing the responsibility of finding out too late it's not on the unaware consumer. Heaven's Gate? Give it a chance and don't listen to the "critics". Time puts everything in its proper place. After all, it's taken movies like Mankiewicz' Cleopatra 45 years to claim its proper place in cinema history against the vitriolic reviews of the critics of the time (which to a large extent had nothing to do with its artistic merits). The Movie: 4 stars; The DVD: until a proper version is released, 1 star.

Cimino may not have made a blockbuster, but he did make one of the best Westerns in cinematic history. Unfortunately, most people can't sit through a 4-hour movie. If you are one of those persons who can appreciate a complex narrative, delivered by a stunning cast, that tells a more candid tale of the West, then "Heaven's Gate" is a real treat.

Cimino has collected a set of compelling stories that swirl around the range wars of the Montana. He relates these stories through his protaganist, a federal marshall played by Kris Kristofferson. His thoughts drift back to Harvard Yard in the opening sequence, where he reveled in the commencement ceremonies with his old schoolmate, John Hurt. Much of this scene was chopped out in the theatrical release, undermining the content of the film. It is this Eastern view, which Cimino wants you to take note of. How one can meld into the West as Kristofferson does, and how one can become part and parcel of the cattle syndicate as Hurt did.

The stories mainly focus around the Eastern European immigrants who attempted to carve out a life in late 19th-century Montana. They came up against the great cattle syndicates, who owned much of the range, leaving little for the immigrants to settle on. Cimino gives you a very intimate view of the events. His camera angles take you right into the action. This is a very visceral movie.

Eventually these immigrants come up against the cattle barons, who had formed their own vigilante gangs in an attempt to combat the encroachment of the new settlers on their land. Kristofferson has grown close to the immigrants and eventually chooses to support their claims, leading to a final gut-wrenching confrontation, which includes his old schoolmate, John Hurt.

The cast is first rate. Walken, Bridges, Huppert, Watterston all give excellent performances. Cimino has inverted many of the myths that surround the Old West, and provided a living history. The film almost has the quality of a sepia tone, as he has muted his colors to give the sense of age. The [fourty]... million budget seems paltry by toda's standards, but at the time it was one of the most expensive films ever made. Unfortunately, not everyone was ready for it.

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...then buy Unforgiven.

Let's just set the Heaven's Gate plot aside for a moment (all 3 hours and 40 minutes of it). Even granting this self-indulgent, obtuse epic a pardon, the DVD still deserves to be tried, convicted, and buried in the cheap seats on Boot Hill. The Heaven's Gate DVD is, without question, the WORST DVD that I have ever had the (dis)pleasure to view.

Why? Well let's start with the video quality, which is horrific. No, I'm not referring to the Director's color palette. Yes, the chosen sepia tones are annoying, but I defer to the critics and assume that it was an inspired choice. No, I am referring to the film transfer....which was apparently done on someone's five year old PC using film reels stored in the trunk of an abandoned car that has sat in the desert for the last 20 years. The transfer is awash with reel change markers, dirt, scratches and random purple spots, which appear throughout the film. Furthermore, the quality varies SIGNIFICANTLY between reels. Okay, let's assume that you can tolerate the transfer. Can you still enjoy the film? Sure...if you can read lips.

The sound is horrid. The mix is insanely poor. The center channel is low and muffled. In fact, it is so poor that we stopped the movie and played every game that we could with the surround sound system, television, and the DVD player...all to no effect. I'm not talking about trying to tweak a less than perfect 5.1 soundtrack - we were just trying to understand the actors! The sound is so muddied and overwhelmed by supporting background noise that much of the dialog is completely unintelligible. It was so bad that we even tried to turn on the subtitles. Unfortunately, my high school French is rusty and my friend's Spanish more so. Yes, that's right - no English subtitles.

I am not even going to address the plot. Nope. I'm not even going to say that it was obtuse, meandering, and in need of serious editing. Whoops, I guess that I did. I mean, what the heck? Nearly four hours and no background on the motivation for the Harvard types to move West. No background on the relationship between "the association" and the state and federal governments...or perhaps the main characters? Well, I suppose that, given time constraints, all possible interesting back stories had to be shelved...and understandably so. I mean who has time for such trivia when you need to dedicate ten minutes to a roller skating musical number...or 15 minutes to a drunken college graduation ceremony?

Run from this movie. Run and hide. It may (and I emphasize MAY) be tolerable with a better transfer, but I suspect that even a fan of this "masterpiece" would be amazingly disappointed with this DVD mastering.

Many cinema fans know of or have heard of the "Legend of Heaven's Gate"; huge flop, out of control director, bankrupted the studio, etc... If you are interested enough in the movie to consider buying the DVD, then you are prepared to look past the legend and get to the real story.

"Heaven's Gate" is the labor of love of Michael Cimino. Fresh from his award winning efforts on "The Deer Hunter", Cimino looked to bring to life the events surrounding the little known but fascinating Johnson County Wyoming range war in 1890-91. Many of the circumstances that sparked the range war in the late 19th century were relevant in the late 20th century (and more so today); the friction between residents and the ever increasing flow of immigrants, concentration of wealth among a small powerful group of elite ranchers, their efforts to squeeze out small ranch operations and independent immigrant families, and the conflict felt by those in the middle who had ties to both sides.

Kris Kristofferson plays Jim Averill, a man who came from a wealthy east coast family, went to Harvard, and was expected to do great things. Upon hearing the message of the good doctor (Joseph Cotten) at his graduation ceremony, telling his class that they should go out and enrich society with their wealth and prestige, Averill decides to go out west and make his mark among the citizens of the rough frontier. Upon arriving in Wyoming, Averill joins the Cattlemen's Association as does his fraternity brother from Harvard,Billy Irvine (John Hurt). Once he becomes a member of this august group, Averill discovers it is nothing more than a gathering of rich elitists from the east bent on cornering the beef market in the west and stamping out those who stand in their way. Frustrated with their attitudes, he leaves acrimoniously while Billy continues upon the course he began in college, drinking himself irrelevant.

Averill decides to use what influence he has for good purposes and becomes the sherriff of Johnson County, keeping peace in a land becoming filled with newcomers and the residents who resent their intrusion. While in office he becomes involved with the town madam Ella(Isabelle Huppert) who happens to count the Cattlemen's enforcer, Nate Champion (Christopher Walken) among her clients. Averill understands Champion's position and the two are friendly until the Association takes the drastic step of branding the immigrants "anarchists" and declaring war on them for cattle theivery. Averill has tried to hold the line and keep the Association from flexing their considerable muscle in his county, but this move unleashes the force of the Association (physical and political) culminating in a pitched battle between the two sides. Averill leads the immigrants in a spirited defense against the Association and their army of hired guns. In the end, this "rich man's army" is saved from defeat by the U.S. Army and the immigrants are left to bury their dead and wonder what happens next.

After witnessing the carnage, Averill and Ella pack their belongings to start anew further west when they are ambushed by members of the Association, angry at their efforts to organize the immigrants against them. Ella is killed and Averill realizes the futility of fighting the system when he has nothing left to fight for. He returns to the east, marries the girl he was meant to end up with, and spends his twilight years (symbolically) drifting on a yacht in Newport harbor Rhode Island wondering what might have been and trying to live with what he has experienced.

While there are some uneven patches in the film, it is an engrossing story that is wonderfully shot. The cinematography is excellent and the locations are stunning. The soundtrack is a great mix of European, early American, and folk that evokes the time and melting pot feel of the area. (the cd is out of print, but worth tracking down. It is available used through Amazon.) I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys sweeping, epic pictures and also to anyone who has an interest in this period of American history. The themes in this film resonate to this day; should wealth be horded by a privileged few? what are the consequences of the influence wealthy, powerful men hold over our elected officials? who will stand up for those who are less fortunate in our society? does power, money and influence equal right? Finally, in addition to the actors I have mentioned, this film also stars Sam Waterston, Jeff Bridges, and Mickey Rourke (in a bit part). To those who are interested enough to want to read the true story about the Johnson County War, I recommend the "Powder River War" by Helena Huntington Smith.