His second work was 1978’s “The Deer Hunter”, which featured Oscar-nominated performances by Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep (her first) and supporting actor Christopher Walken, who won. The cause of death has yet to be ascertained, according to Cimino’s friend and former lawyer Eric Weissmann. “He will be missed”.
Advertisement
The 72-year-old American actor, who worked with the late film director on the Vietnam war film “The Deer Hunter” in 1979, will “always” remember the Oscar-winning creative mastermind who died aged 77 at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday (02.07.16).
His follow-up, Heaven’s Gate, however, became of Hollywood’s biggest box-office flops and contributed to the near collapse of the studio, United Artists.
Some film makers expressed their appreciation for Cimino after he passed away.
The director followed up “The Deer Hunter” with “Heaven’s Gate” in 1980, given mostly free range due to the success of his previous film. Accused of having a giant ego and being fast and loose with other people’s money, Cimino oversaw the filming of the bloated production that lasted eleven months and ended up costing $35 million on a budget that was not to exceed $11 million.
Cimino was born in New York City and raised in Long Island. Released in 1974, the film was a hit and helped launch Jeff Bridges to stardom with the Oscar nomination he received.
Cimino’s career never recovered after Heaven’s Gate and he would make just five more films. The film’s fate seemed sealed even before it opened because of ruinous reviews and became a notorious box office disaster.
“Nobody lives without making mistakes”, Cimino said. I dont believe in defeat.
Albeit future eras of movie producers and cinephiles would view Heaven’s Gate as a clique great and cutting edge flawless work of art, Cimino’s vocation never completely recouped from the film’s underlying basic and business drubbing. The haters were wrong all along: Heaven’s Gate is a thing of beauty. You cant look back. “Everybody has bumps, but as Count Basie said, ‘It’s not how you handle the hills, it’s how you handle the valleys'”.
Cimino also directed Desperate Hours (1990), starring Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins, and gangster film The Sicilian (1986), adapted from a novel by Godfather author Mario Puzo.
Advertisement
The Times said that in a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair, Cimino expressed hope that Heaven’s Gate would be viewed as a masterpiece some day.
