Author Charles Elton on the rise and fall of Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino is a film director every cinephile knows about and no one really knows. As the main creative force behind one of the most acclaimed movies of the 1970s,The Deer Hunter, Cimino was the first major Hollywood director to make a film about the Vietnam War. The result was a groundbreaking 1978 film that won fiveAcademy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Yet just two years later, his brief reign at the top came crashing down withthe notorious flopHeaven’s Gate, which bankrupted United Artists, was used as a scapegoat by studios to make less risky, auteur-driven films, and made Cimino a pariah in Hollywood until his death in 2016....