Michael Cimino
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Michael Cimino (born February 3, 1939 in New York City, New York) is an American film director.
Cimino's biography is an example of one of the meteoric rises and falls that were seen in Hollywood in the 1970s. With two writing credits on his record (the science fiction film Silent Running and the second Dirty Harry film Magnum Force), he moved up to directing with the Clint Eastwood film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot which enjoys a minor cult status. His second film, The Deer Hunter, was a massive critical success, and won a number of Oscars, including one for Cimino as Best Director.
On the back of this record, he was given free rein by United Artists for his next film, Heaven's Gate. The result not only was a financial disaster that nearly bankrupted the studio, but the film was also widely viewed as being the most visible example of the out-of-control state of Hollywood at that time. Blowback from the ordeal caused many critics to subsequently downplay their praise for The Deer Hunter.
Public perception of Cimino's work was almost irretrievably tainted in the wake of Heaven's Gate and none of his subsequent films achieved popular or critical success. In 2001 he published his first novel, Big Jane. Later that year the French Minister of Culture decorated him "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres."
Interviews with Cimino are rare, and his part in the Heaven's Gate saga remains a relative non-topic, though George Hickenlooper's book Reel Interviews touches almost exclusively on the film and resulting scandal, offering a rare candid discussion with Cimino. The region 2 DVD of The Deer Hunter contains the first and (so far) only audio commentary with Cimino.
Filmography
Director:
- Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
- The Deer Hunter (1978)
- Heaven's Gate (1980)
- The Pope of Greenwich Village (uncredited) (1984)
- Year of the Dragon (1985)
- The Sicilian (1987)
- Desperate Hours (1990)
- The Sunchaser (1996)
External Links
- Cimino's Bio on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001047/)
- 2002 article from The New York Observer (http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=5434)fr:Michael Cimino
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