Michael Cimino's First Interview in 13 Years

'Michael Cimino's First Interview in 13 Years

Is this the omen foretelling Heaven's Gate 2?

Q: "Your definitive cut for Heaven's Gate made it to the screen and is available now. Are you happy with it?"

A: "I'm blown away. I've happily watched it several times now. And it just had overwhelming responses. It was at Venice [Film Festival] with a half-hour standing ovation, and New York Film Festival, same thing. At the Lumiere festival in France, the biggest film theater I know of in the world, 6,000 people filled it from top to bottom, gave a standing ovation. And no, I never needed vindication. I knew what I had done."

Slate wrote an interesting commentary about the director's cut, but I don't know if I can support the article's viewpoint. Unfortunately, I have not seen the latest version of the film, mainly because the version I saw many years ago remains the only film I've ever seen which seems longer than the events it portrays, and I have no wish to re-create any portion of that experience. I guess I've always been more interested in the process that led to the astounding finalcial failure of this film, and I can wholeheartedly recommend Final Cut, the book written by the United Artists executive who oversaw that process, or failed to, depending on your perspective.