His death was announced by Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux in French via Twitter saying, “Cimino died peacefully, surrounded by his family and two women who loved him”.
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Cimino rose to prominence on the heels of his directorial debut, 1974’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, for which young star Jeff Bridges was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Michael Cimino, who received an Oscar for his critically acclaimed film The Deer Hunter has died aged 77.
Raised in Long Island, New York by his music publisher father and costume designer mother, he went to Michigan State and Yale and graduated with an MFA in painting, but ended up finding a career in directing commercials for the likes of United Airlines, Pepsi and more.
Some say it helped bring down the director-driven renaissance that had fueled much of the great work of the 1970s, giving way to a business-and-blockbuster mentality that would dominate the decades that followed. He got gigs as a co-writer of the ecological science fiction film “Silent Running” starring Bruce Dern, and the 1973 “Magnum Force” the second “Dirty Harry” film.
He would, following Heaven’s Gate, direct features such as Desperate Hours and The Sunchaser.
Director Michael Cimino, best known for his Oscar-winning Vietnam War classic The Deer Hunter, died today. Rest in peace, sir.
Although the reputations of Cimino and of Heaven’s Gate would improve to varying degrees, the saga surrounding the film ensured that Hollywood’s auteur period was effectively over.
“The film’s scope, natural backdrops, massive sets, complex choreography and cinematography are seductive, at times stunning, and if you like watching swirling people and cameras, you may love it”, Dargis wrote.
Our work together is something I will always remember.
No cause of death has yet been determined.
Ever the character, Cimino once said of his career: “Nobody lives without making mistakes”. The movie was budgeted for $11 million but took $44 million to make and only made $3.5 million. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published early in 2015, Cimino expressed happiness that the film was being seen anew and accepted at last by audiences for its sweeping intimacy and audacious vision of the American West. The haters were wrong all along: Heaven’s Gate is a thing of beauty.
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The film became synonymous with over-budget and out-of-control productions that almost bankrupted the studio. His relationship with the press reached its nadir in 2010, when Vanity Fair published a profile that focused on rumors that he was trans under the headline “Michael Cimino’s Final Cut”. The film’s failure also led to a sharp decline in the production of westerns, and Cimino’s career never recovered from the blow.
