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the huge success of his
multi Academy Award-
winning film
The Deer
Hunter
, Cimino’s name
was now added to this list
of innovative and creative
filmmakers
But unbeknownst to
UA, they had signed
a contract with an
egotistical megalomaniac.
Furthermore, his colossal
extravagance and
relentless pursuit of motion
picture perfection would
bring UA to the brink of
bankruptcy and its ultimate
demise.
Casting the lead
roles is a process that always involves a
delicate balance between the studio and the
filmmaker. Kris Kristofferson and Christopher
Walken were cast as the two lead male
characters for Cimino’s now retitled movie,
Heaven’s Gate
. For the lead female role, UA
wanted either Jane Fonda or Diane Keaton.
When both actresses turned it down, Cimino
suggested Isabelle Huppert. “Who?” asked
the UA production heads. Huppert was a
little known French actress who could only
D
irector Otto
Preminger had best
described the United
Artists set-up when he stated,
“Only UA has a system of
true independent production.
After they agree on the basic
property and are consulted
on the cast, they leave
everything to the producer’s
discrimination”.
UA had literally pioneered
the notion that filmmakers
should have freedom from
external interference.
Consequently, when the
new UA executive struck a
deal with Michael Cimino
(pronounced Chi-mi-no) and
his producer, Joann Carelli, to finance the
director’s next movie, they naturally
followed the previous regime’s proven and
successful blueprint.
The 1970s had seen the meteoric rise of
the young
auteur
director: Peter Bogdanovich,
George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, William
Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven
Spielberg had created a cinematic revolution
in Hollywood by directing a plethora of
money-making blockbusters. Following
Heaven's Gate
(1980) Directed by
Michael Cimino
Part 2 of 2
24
jbhifi.com.auNOVEMBER
2016
EXTRAS
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stack.net.au...unbeknownst to UA they
had signed a contract
with an egotistical
megalomaniac
The
Movie That
A
Hollywood
Film Company
Destroyed
Michael Cimino and Kris Kristofferson on the set of
Heaven’s Gate