The difficulty with properly evaluating a film like HEAVEN'S GATE is knowing which HEAVEN'S GATE to evaluate. When first released to New York in November of 1980, it was a 219 epic, notoriously over budget, from self indulgent film "autor" Michael Cimino who had previously outraged and fascinated with his bloated 183 minute Viet Nam/S&M epic, THE DEER HUNTER.
The critics - whether they had praised THE DEER HUNTER or eviscerated it - let Cimino's reputation for self indulgence on both films color their view of the new film and pretty much destroyed it and him.
Within a week of the release, it was reported that the film would be withdrawn after the following weekend for "re-editing." Dozens of film fans (myself included) rushed to the city to see the ORIGINAL, then thought likely never to be seen again, cut of the film, and were amazed to find a beautiful, even dazzling, take on the history of the American West (using a specific "range war" as the allegory for the whole) unblinkered by the stereotypes of "cowboy" films of the past.
The film on the big screen was elegant in its lyric storytelling leading to the almost balletic violence of the conclusion. It was not for the short of attention span or the unsophisticated who never outgrew their Lone Ranger or Bonanza TV shows, but it was a FILM that justified the medium. When the final credits rolled for the packed house watching this universally press panned film, it was one of the few times I've been with a movie audience moved to actually applaud the achievement on the screen.
Of course the movie WAS withdrawn and edited down to the shorter (more "exhibitor friendly") 149 minute form which ironically was everything the original critics SAID the film was. With the bulk of the stately East Coast introduction eliminated, the rationale and underpinnings of the story were severely undercut and the film became not only less coherent, it ironically FELT more interminable than the half hour longer original.
To this day I remain convinced that had HEAVEN'S GATE been released FIRST and THE DEER HUNTER second, their commercial fates would also have been reversed and today we'd view HEAVEN'S GATE as the flawed classic and THE ("Best Picture" Oscar winning) DEER HUNTER as the self indulgent disaster and a monument to a mismanaged studio spinning out of control and destroyed by funding an unstable director beyond the bounds of reason in the pursuit of his "vision." It's more than a pity; it's close to an artistic tragedy. The edited version cannot, in good conscience, be recommended despite some stunning cinematography (by Vilmos Zsigmond) and surviving performances (everyone's performances were harmed by the edit, but Kristofferson, Walken and Huppert were never better). If the original release print is offered however, it is a genuine treasure to be savored on a par with and even surpassing such landmarks as von Stroheim's GREED or Griffith's INTOLERANCE.
The critics - whether they had praised THE DEER HUNTER or eviscerated it - let Cimino's reputation for self indulgence on both films color their view of the new film and pretty much destroyed it and him.
Within a week of the release, it was reported that the film would be withdrawn after the following weekend for "re-editing." Dozens of film fans (myself included) rushed to the city to see the ORIGINAL, then thought likely never to be seen again, cut of the film, and were amazed to find a beautiful, even dazzling, take on the history of the American West (using a specific "range war" as the allegory for the whole) unblinkered by the stereotypes of "cowboy" films of the past.
The film on the big screen was elegant in its lyric storytelling leading to the almost balletic violence of the conclusion. It was not for the short of attention span or the unsophisticated who never outgrew their Lone Ranger or Bonanza TV shows, but it was a FILM that justified the medium. When the final credits rolled for the packed house watching this universally press panned film, it was one of the few times I've been with a movie audience moved to actually applaud the achievement on the screen.
Of course the movie WAS withdrawn and edited down to the shorter (more "exhibitor friendly") 149 minute form which ironically was everything the original critics SAID the film was. With the bulk of the stately East Coast introduction eliminated, the rationale and underpinnings of the story were severely undercut and the film became not only less coherent, it ironically FELT more interminable than the half hour longer original.
To this day I remain convinced that had HEAVEN'S GATE been released FIRST and THE DEER HUNTER second, their commercial fates would also have been reversed and today we'd view HEAVEN'S GATE as the flawed classic and THE ("Best Picture" Oscar winning) DEER HUNTER as the self indulgent disaster and a monument to a mismanaged studio spinning out of control and destroyed by funding an unstable director beyond the bounds of reason in the pursuit of his "vision." It's more than a pity; it's close to an artistic tragedy. The edited version cannot, in good conscience, be recommended despite some stunning cinematography (by Vilmos Zsigmond) and surviving performances (everyone's performances were harmed by the edit, but Kristofferson, Walken and Huppert were never better). If the original release print is offered however, it is a genuine treasure to be savored on a par with and even surpassing such landmarks as von Stroheim's GREED or Griffith's INTOLERANCE.