A look at the director who did the movie Deer Hunter which won multiple academy awards and then for a flop at the time Heaven's Gate. Like most movies, Heavens's Gate did not stand a chance once a few critics came out saying they did not like it. Then later you had Bach one of the producers write something that was picked up in all of the press about how bad Cimno was and it signed his downfall. the author of this book paints a different picture of the man and actually the opposite of what Bach had said and here you have a very good story about a man and how he got into the business, a very good book.

https://greatbutunknownperformances.wordpress.com/2022/04/28/cimino-the-deer-hunter-heavens-gate-and-the-price-of-a-vision-by-charles-elton/

My review is located on this website...many thanks for reading.
(I would give it 4 1/2 stars..)

An incredibly well-researched book about Michael Cimino, the film director who won an Oscar for The Deer Hunter and then became a pariah after making Heaven's Gate. I read the book Final Cut by Steven Bach in 1985. Steven Bach was one of the producers on the film. I am so pleased to see that Charles Elton has expanded upon this by offering multiple perspectives (including ones that contradict Bach's recounting of the film production) and helps us examine the artistry of Cimino in a whole new light. Cimino as a man is an enigma and still remains an enigma after reading this book. But in the end, what matters is the artistic vision he brought to film during his career. This is a complicated man and a complicated story and yet gives us real insight into the crass business of making movies. I highly recommend this book!

Cimino seems to be pigeonholed as "the Heaven's Gate guy", and while that is an important part of his story, I loved reading this wide ranging portrait of his life and career. A very underrated (and sometimes forgotten) auteur of '70s cinema. Recommended for film buffs.

A book that most film buffs will love. I wouldn't recommend it for the casual reader who happens to just see it on a shelf one day. This is for the film buffs that see themselves as armchair directors themselves.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review,

Hollywood loves nothing better than to chew up and spit out artistic geniuses—witness its treatment of Orson Welles or Stanley Kubrick. On the other hand, directors have often acted abominably and Hollywood is only too happy to ignore this so long as the money keeps rolling in. Michael Cimino, who won a Best Director Oscar for The Deer Hunter and had a varied career that also included penning the screenplay for the Bette Midler movie The Rose, went from the highest of highs in Tinseltown - watching his Vietnam drama (starring Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken) win nine Oscars including Best Picture -to the lowest of lows - his next movie "Heaven's Gate" became synonymous with "movie disaster" and gave the director such a reputation for difficulty that he was never able to recover. (Hollywood doesn't mind a difficult director so long as the movies are hits.) When Heaven's Gate - which went far over budget and was critically lambasted and ignored by audiences - flopped, Hollywood was only too quick and too happy to dismiss the same director they'd swooned about the year before.

Charles Elton meticulously researches this biography on the enigmatic director, who was a Jay Gatsby type who made up much of his past and tended to tell tall tales about himself. He never married though he had a lifelong "friendship" with a woman who was his producer and may or may not have been his girlfriend at one time or another. He often spoke of all the women he slept with, but the author - so diligent he's the first journalist to ever track down Cimino's brothers - couldn't find one woman he ever was involved with romantically. And towards the end of his life, Cimino became either a cross-dresser, a drag queen, or even possibly was transgender - no one is really sure.

It was interesting to see that Heaven's Gate - the so-called disaster that ruined so much of this man's life - is now considered a masterpiece. How Hollywood! (And I must see the directors cut)

If you are interested in Cimino, or Hollywood or movies in general, you definitely have to pick up this indispensable bio of one of the most elusive and talented directors. Thank you to #NetGalley #CharlesElton and the publisher for a copy of an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thank to NetGalley and the publisher Abrams Press for a copy of this biography and film history.

How does a biographer write about a subject who spent most of his life lying about their past, when the person who knew the subject best continues with most of the lies long past where the truth is known, even onto the subjects death. In Charles Elton's biography on the life of famed filmmaker Michael Cimino you research everything you can, chase down every person you can, and write a superb book on a very hidden man.

Michael Cimino is known principally for the films The Deer Hunter, which won numerous Oscars and critical acclaim, and Heaven's Gate which was derided by most critics, and thought by many to have lead to the closing of a major Hollywood film studio. These are only some of the legends that Mr. Elton proves wrong in his book. Many other legends are those about the director himself, from his family, his upbringing, education, age, military service and his film credits and works. Cimino tried to create a Michael Cimino that was as much art as the films that he had in hand in writing and directing.

Mr. Elton has done an incredible amount or research, tracking down schoolmates, lost friends, extras on sets, and Cimino's family who were either thought lost or dead. The writing is very good, and covers the eras that Cimino worked in both advertising and movies in detail, and information on his long exile after the failure of his final film. There is quite a cast of characters, from the loyal producer who protected him and enabled him, film critics, drivers, and others who were cast away by Cimino for a variety of reasons.

A very telling book about a man who seemed to value privacy, and recreation of his life as much as the valued creating art. Considering that he had so little much in the way of myth and fables to sort through, it is amazing that Mr. Elton was able to gather so much factual information about Cimino. A great book for movie fans, especially 1970's movies fans, or people who enjoy great biographies on complicated individuals.

An insightful look into the life and career of a pioneer filmmaker. Though this leans dry and tedious at times, this is an educational read for film fanatics wanting to learn more about the history of the industry and a raw, unbiased look at a once lauded, narcissistic filmmaker in Michael Cimino.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the director of Deer Hunter and his subsequent failures in Hollywood. Definitely recommended for any cinephile including fans of the director. Mr. Elton was able to track down and talk to a lot of people about this fascinating but mercurial and reclusive man. As a fan of 70s cinema and a film buff, I was definitely riveted with the book. Mr. Elton might not be the greatest writer but he is smart enough to let his research and fascinating subject do the work for him.