sandeano
24 Oct 2004, 21:45
Went along to the Astor today for the first screening in the season of the re-release of "Heaven's Gate".
For those unaware of this film's sorry history, it is a western based on the Johnson County wars of 1890 in Wyoming where the landowners took it upon themselves to hire gunmen to rid the area of European immigrants, pretty much with the backing of the state and federal authorities.
The film was directed by Michael Cimino, red-hot after the success of "The Deer Hunter" and it stars Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Walken, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. Originally budgeted at around $18 million, the fanatical director took the film way over schedule and cost and it eventually rolled in at $40 million.
Premiering in 1980 it played for one week in New York at the running time of 226 minutes, but the savage critical response forced it to be pulled, hacked and released again six months later around 30 minutes shorter. It didn't help, the critics and industry observers took to it with a sadistic glee and it died a quick death, losing a fortune, forcing the studio (United Artists) to fold and sank the careers of everyone involved.
Ironically, the producer Steven Bach wrote a story detailing the torturous making of the film and the terrible reception and "Final Cut" was a best seller. In fact it was estimated that more people read the book than saw the film.
Now I'd see the hacked down version, but not the original, 3 hours 47 minute director's version until today.
And it is almost excellent.
A staggeringly beautiful film, stunning shot, with painstaking production values, it contains fine performances all-round and a heartbreaking romantic love triangle set against a horrifying backdrop of corruption and cruelty.
Scene for scene the movie is perfect...however the sum of its parts still does remain slightly aloof and the narrative focus is never exactly clarified, so the film does just stop short of being a masterpiece in my eyes.
But, when compared to the massively budgeted junk that passes as 'blockbusters" these days, "Heaven's Gate" is superb entertainment. Exceptionally intelligent and utterly gorgeous (with shots and sequences that will remain etched in your memory forever) it is the best thing playing in the cinema this year and one onl has to feel amazed that it was treated with such contempt 24 years ago.
The Astor has a beautifully restored, STUNNING widescreen print playing for the next 2 weeks. It is a brave move and they deserve the support of all Melbourne movie-goers. Get along and see it. Be warned, it is a purposely slow moving film, but if you are patient, the rewards are copious.
For those unaware of this film's sorry history, it is a western based on the Johnson County wars of 1890 in Wyoming where the landowners took it upon themselves to hire gunmen to rid the area of European immigrants, pretty much with the backing of the state and federal authorities.
The film was directed by Michael Cimino, red-hot after the success of "The Deer Hunter" and it stars Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Walken, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. Originally budgeted at around $18 million, the fanatical director took the film way over schedule and cost and it eventually rolled in at $40 million.
Premiering in 1980 it played for one week in New York at the running time of 226 minutes, but the savage critical response forced it to be pulled, hacked and released again six months later around 30 minutes shorter. It didn't help, the critics and industry observers took to it with a sadistic glee and it died a quick death, losing a fortune, forcing the studio (United Artists) to fold and sank the careers of everyone involved.
Ironically, the producer Steven Bach wrote a story detailing the torturous making of the film and the terrible reception and "Final Cut" was a best seller. In fact it was estimated that more people read the book than saw the film.
Now I'd see the hacked down version, but not the original, 3 hours 47 minute director's version until today.
And it is almost excellent.
A staggeringly beautiful film, stunning shot, with painstaking production values, it contains fine performances all-round and a heartbreaking romantic love triangle set against a horrifying backdrop of corruption and cruelty.
Scene for scene the movie is perfect...however the sum of its parts still does remain slightly aloof and the narrative focus is never exactly clarified, so the film does just stop short of being a masterpiece in my eyes.
But, when compared to the massively budgeted junk that passes as 'blockbusters" these days, "Heaven's Gate" is superb entertainment. Exceptionally intelligent and utterly gorgeous (with shots and sequences that will remain etched in your memory forever) it is the best thing playing in the cinema this year and one onl has to feel amazed that it was treated with such contempt 24 years ago.
The Astor has a beautifully restored, STUNNING widescreen print playing for the next 2 weeks. It is a brave move and they deserve the support of all Melbourne movie-goers. Get along and see it. Be warned, it is a purposely slow moving film, but if you are patient, the rewards are copious.