MICHAEL CIMINO - dies aged 77 - R.I.P.

Michael Cimino - Writer, Producer and Director died on Saturday 2nd July at his home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 77. Born on 3rd February 1939 in New York City - a third generation Italian/American, he grew up on Long Island, and then went to Michigan State University where he majored in graphic arts and graduated with honours after just three years. During this time he became Art Director and then Managing Editor of the college satirical magazine. The quality of his work gained him entry into Yale, where he graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and then in 1963 with a Masters of Fine Arts - both in painting. From here he moved to Manhattan and Directed television commercials successfully for the likes of Pepsi, United Airlines, Eastman Kodak and Kool Cigarettes.

Following his success in New York, Cimino moved to Los Angeles to embark on a screenwriting career. He wrote the script for 'Thunderbolt & Lightfoot' starring Clint Eastwood and Produced by his Production Company, 'Malpaso', and a young Jeff Bridges. Made for US$4M it returned US$25M, gained Bridges a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination, and was Cimino's first feature film in the Director's chair. He also Co-Wrote the scripts for the 1972 post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi film 'Silent Running' and the 1973 second Dirty Harry instalment 'Magnum Force' which Eastwood asked him to scribe based on what he saw for 'Thunderbolt & Lightfoot'.

From here Cimino turned his attention to the Vietnam War with an earlier script that had been kicking around for some years but waiting for someone to polish up the story and character development - that opportunity came across Cimino's desk. He Co-Wrote, Co-Produced and Directed 'The Deer Hunter' released in 1978 which went over schedule and over budget, costing US$15M for which it returned US$49M. It became a critical and commercial success, picking up five Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken, Best Editing and Best Sound. It was also nominated in four other categories. All up the film picked up 22 award wins and another 26 nominations, and starred Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage and Meryl Streep, and it remains a touchstone of Vietnam War movies - despite its questionable historical context.

His next outing as Writer/Director for which he was given free reign off the back of 'The Deer Hunter' was 1980's 'Heaven's Gate' which couldn't have been more polar opposite to his previous film. The film was plagued by delays, excessive attention to detail, a production shoot spanning eleven months, rumours of on-set cocaine abuse and a budget blow out to US$44M, from which it took a very lowly Box Office haul of just US$3.5M after its wider distribution was halted due to hugely negative press. The film hit the Studio, United Artists, very hard in the back pocket, but it was the potential reputational damage that was feared the most, with the company eventually being sold off. The film also heralded the beginning of the end to the Hollywood style of film making that emerged in the 60's, 70's and early 80's whereby young auteurs could largely dictate the films they wanted to make with far greater control and authority over the process. For the most part that worked well but 'Heaven's Gate' was an expensive lesson and sent far reaching shockwaves through the industry, and thereafter the Studio Exec's and money men retained far greater control and authority over the commercial process.

The film also destroyed Cimino's reputation from which he would barely recover. Starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Mickey Rourke, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Jeff Bridges and Willem Dafoe amongst others, the film garnered much negative press and a critical panning at the time - so much so that even his supporters from 'The Deer Hunter' turned against him. The passing of time has however, been kinder to 'Heaven's Gate' as a result of extensive re-editing and critical reassessment.

Following this, Cimino's reputation was badly tainted. He went onto make 'Year of the Dragon' in 1985 with Mickey Rourke which he also Co-Wrote with Oliver Stone; 'The Sicilian' in 1987 based on the Mario Puzo novel and with Christopher Lambert in the lead role; 'Desperate Hours' in 1990 with Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins, and then 'Sunchaser' in 1996 with Woody Harrelson. None of these films did particularly well - either commercially or critically. In 2007 he Directed a segment on 'To Each His Own Cinema' titled 'No Translation Needed' - that was to be his last film making effort.


All up Cimino had eight Director credits, nine for Writing and four for Producing. He picked up thirteen award wins and twelve other nominations - both good wins and nominations, and not so good.

Known in movie making circles as 'The Ayatollah', Cimino leaves two indelible marks on film making history especially for the best of reasons ('The Deer Hunter') and (debatably) the worst of reasons ('Heaven's Gate'), but for the latter at least, time seems to have softened his perceived transgressions, so may he sleep easy!

Michael Cimino - Rest In Peace
1939-2016

-Steve, at Odeon Online-