Review of Heaven's Gate (1980) by Charles P — 14 Dec 2013

Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (which followed his success with The Deer Hunter) is notorious for bankrupting United Artists. You can see the money spent on the screen in the way of perfect period detail, huge sets, a large number of extras, and up-and-coming star talent (Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, John Hurt).

A love triangle involving the first three of those stars is set against the attack on immigrant settlers (mostly Eastern European) in Johnson County, Wyoming, by the rich and powerful Stockgrowers' Association.

Unfortunately, despite its 3 1/2 hour length, we never quite get to know these characters (or any characters) and time drifts away in the many community-based scenes. A framing device showing Kristofferson before and after seems ill-conceived.

However, Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is pretty incredible just in the way it captures the sunlight hitting the dust in the air (there is a lot of dust) and renders a lot of the film hazy or sepia-toned.

But seeing his name only reminds me of how much better Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller is for a Western of this type.