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Two reviews ago, I had mentioned that
I was reading a book. A book about Hollywood. A Hollywood book about
a certain film. Having just finished reading Final Cut: Dreams and
Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate; I believe I can formulate not
only an informed opinion but also one that can distinguish the quality of this piece of text and where it can be placed when referring to other books that come from Hollywood.
For there are a tremendous amount of auto-biography's, historical anecdotes, and puff pieces passing off as something of merit when
it comes to the greasy spoon of Hollywood lore and this book can
definitely be placed in the modicum of something tremendously valuable in not only
the information written for of American films greatest disappointments but as well as an examination to the current dismal
state of the Hollywood studio system. In plain terms: It's
great stuff.
Who knew that Movie Executives could
write about a tremendous piece of film history with a sense of humor and wit? Shout out and rest in peace to Steven Bach. A guy who wanted
to make a mark in film history and unfortunately did so in the most insane way
possible.
A pretty solid book all around that
goes around evenly in spreading the blame to every person of authority when it comes to the overall production
of Heaven's Gate. Cimino was pure ego, Joanna Carelli wasn't much of a
producer, and United Artists at the time didn't know how to stop the
train so they just rode it all the way till the track stopped existing.
Probably the greatest piece of insight
I received when reading this is the amount of disingenuous press that
was given to the film. I couldn't believe it but then I watched the
documentary adaptation of this book and there it was. From the G.O.D.
himself, Vincent Canby, who had written about how much of a bore and
basically tore the film apart before really giving it an opportunity.
The whole chain of journalists growing with hate as for the past year or so there was a blatant disregard for journalists to be able to interact with the director,
who at this time was probably one of the biggest directors when it
came to headlines as he had just directed The Deer Hunter which won
Best Director and Best Picture, and was now working on such a tremendous project soon after.
This should have been a cake walk for
free promotion to create this image of a director growing into a
true American auteur within the film industry. Coppola, Bogdanovich,
and Friedkin could be seen as this at first glance but they were souring their
relationships with the power that be at the time but here was the new blood entering the scene.
A man
who didn't have much of a history, had only made 1 film prior to The Deer Hunter, A Clint Eastwood picture of all things, and was surely
on his way to a long and fruitful career if he had played his cards right but by completely shutting out the press
and failure to provide promotional materials, apparently 4000 stills were taken with half of them
being just of the crew, but even with his complete shut off of the outside world, there was still ways to make it work until you actually get Cimino down to sit and talk.
Cimino, as brought up in the book, is
in no way a showman like Coppola. You watch a movie like Megalopolis, which I enjoyed for the most part but can completely understand why people hate it, and then see Coppola take on a whole crowd of reports right after and not blink and you have to say to yourself that that dude was meant to be a filmmaker. Cimino could not handle any of that that.
It
makes sense that the easiest way to spin this narrative of seclusion is to play up the idea
that Cimino is some mad artist needing the privacy to make his movies. Though that isn't the direction they went in and this lack of communication with the press was causing trouble all around but the
one thing that probably every entertainment section of every news outlet hated
was the fact that the only real reporting being done was by some
dude that went undercover as an extra. This sense of betrayal from an already rocky relationship was probably the end
all be all for the press to wait with hungry teeth to rip the shit out of this movie when it finally came out.
History tells that after the premier screening in New York of a 3
and 1/2 hour cut, though the documentary states the
movie played for a week but the book differs, Cimino went straight back to the editing room to work on
a version to play an hour shorter but that didn't do much of anything to cool the critics.
It's a shame that there had to be a fall guy but Cimino was just the
right person at the right time. The previously mentioned trio of directors have directed their own misses around this time, especially Coppola with One for
the Heart which put him in debt jail for the longest time, but its
Cimino that gets the title, though not necessarily well earned if one
looks at the numbers, of destroying United Artists. A questionable title all around since when the fuck does a conglomerate like
Transamerica give a shit about artistic expression?
There is also the
case that has been scribbled into the history books that this was the
end of the directors regime which can be considered bullshit. Big money came in and
shut out any sense of directors vision but what shouldn't be denied is that EGO got the best of these directors without anyone there to reign them in. You just have to look at the
output of the 80's and there is little doubt to be had that it was
all Cimino's fault. Spielberg got to make the movies he wanted to.
Lucas did too. Friedkin still got work. Coppola made the goddamn
Outsiders during this time and created a new wave of stars for the
big screen. Bogdanovich got work. The two that got the short of the
end of this stick was probably Scorsese and Paul Schrader but even then you get King of Comedy, After Hours, Cat People, and Schraders best film; Mishima: A Life in 4 Chapters. Brian De
Palma got work with Scarface being the highlight. I always refer to Mr. De Palma in regards to there being no preconceived notion of a plan for a career. Whatever happens happens at the right place and the right time is what he stands by.
Michael Cimino only made 4 more movies in a span of 16 years since
Heaven's Gate. Bittersweet. A maniacal sense of
existence and with him being so secretive, its tough to tell exactly
what the guys deal is. There is a biography of sorts out there that I
gotta give a read sometime soon and with some semblance of hope that the novels he
published in France would get a translation out here.
So, in honor of a movie that has been
given little chance for redemption. It is my duty to give the film a
watch. Not just once, not just twice, but 3 times. The first one to be considered a new addition to the Heaven's Gate canon as this can be considered a fan edit.
The Butcher's Cut
You know Steven Soderbergh? Crazy
film guy. Makes good movies. Also, he edits movies. He made a cut of
Heaven's Gate that runs 1 hour and 48 minutes. As I haven't seen the
original three hour and change version for some time and nearly don't
remember much of it, I decided that I will be growing alongside the
film and what a better way to appreciate it than with the shortest
version available.
The fastest way to a destination is a
straight line and that is EXACTLY what this version of the film
accomplishes. It starts off pretty great, almost like a spaghetti
western, with a family man being killed by a stranger, which
introduces Christopher Walken character Nate Champion, and then it
cuts to the introduction of Kris Kristofferson's character James
Averill getting off the train.
Walking into town with all these busy
bodies buying clothes and guns on credit to an organization called The
Association. His introduction isn't as strong but there is a stronger
moral ground presented when he helps out an immigrant family from
being bullied by some asshole cowboys.
From there, the film sets up
the major dilemma of this Association having a death list and Averill
is there to set the law that actual warrants will be needed. From
that moment, this comes to be the creeping shadow for the rest of this film is heading towards.
The love triangle between Nate, James, and
Ella Watson does it best to be as dramatic as possible but it doesn't
hit as hard as this movie wants it to be which could be a reflection
of the actual director's cut but only after viewing that will this theory prove to have some merit.
The big beats are present with the
rollerskating scene, the wide beautiful shots which showcase that
Montana beauty, and the big battle at the end of the film. What's missing is
the ending coda and the beginning Harvard sequence which is now
placed at the very end to bring a far more bittersweet notion to it
all compared to the original of Averill going onto the deck of his
yacht and crying over the failure of his past. It's an interesting
way to end the film but tough to say its complete in providing a
scene of closure to it all. Overall, it's an interesting think
piece of what a film that was supposedly supposed to be around 5 hours total being
cut to the bone to tell the bare narrative threads.
If there was ever a thought at another attempt in making the film even shorter than the
released theatrical running time of 2 hours and 30 something minutes, then this is the most viable solution. Watching this I felt a
tinge of someone trying to give the movie a chance after having some enjoyment of viewing whatever long form version they managed to saw before someone higher up said start cutting.
It succeeds at the bare minimum of being a
movie but there is far too much mise-en-scène missing from the overall
picture that it's tough to make heads or tails of its merits. Too
many questions on the characters reaching the state they are in when
we meet them. Averill being an alcoholic. Nate and him being amigos
of some sort. John Hurt's role most of all is a sliver of a
character. Far too many questions that require answers and it is with
hope that I will receive some semblance of an answer in the upcoming
watches. Though I will admit that I still enjoyed this version
overall and so I have faith that this experience will be worthwhile as
I now watch the theatrical release.
The Theatrical Release
Pretty good looking poster
At the time of pending release, this
being around the New York premier in November 1980, the movie got shitted on so hard at the premiere by Vincent Canby and the overall moot reaction from the attending audience that United Artists rushed the film back to the editing room to get it down to an even more
reasonable length with the goal of making the film far more bearable
than the original plan of 3 hours and change that just got shitted
on. This being the actual version of the
film that critics and the general public would have access to in
regards to the common misconception that this film is one of the
worst films of all time and ever other comment a person could make to
join a band wagon of disdain.
After watching this version of the
film, there is only one word to describe it: Wanting. There is
semblance of a love triangle, there is semblance of a greater trouble
& discussion wanting to be present regarding the cattle barons
and immigrants heading west, but most of all there is a wanting to
make it all come together like a puzzle. This version of the film
does not succeed in achieving this and so all that can be asked is what does it ultimately achieve? I must
give warning that being so familiar with the movie leaves me with
knowledge that a person off the street knowing nothing would not
have.
- Cinematography. It really doesn't
matter which version you see because there can be no denying that
Vilmos Zsigmond filmed one of the greatest looking American films of
that decade. This is the scope that films have tried to achieve, a
sort of simulacra of David Lean aesthetics, but here I believe it becomes something more.
The dreamscape of America is always present even within the brutality
of the movie. Which makes this film stand up against a David Lean
film if not surpass it, for Lean kept his images sheen of cleanliness while Cimino seems to have found a way retain grit within his shots, to become a true original piece of cinematographic work that you just don't see. Like at all. Anywhere.
- Sets/Costumes/The World at large.
There is never not something to look at when it comes to the artificial past world that Michael Cimino had painstakingly went about in
creating. No sense of 1970's America to be seen. Even in the artificial creation,
there is an authentic sense of aging that makes it truly look as
though it had existed before they went about in shooting it. There
was time and effort, as of course can explain the budget as a whole,
to make the world and so it deserves an A+ all the way
The production aspect of it pulling itself together to create such fantastic images is about all I can
muster as being worthwhile when watching this version. For
there are elements that are still missing from movie feeling complete.
The three in the love triangle. The
scenes are organized in a way to have them be the upfront focus but
this causes a certain strangeness to be involved within the narrative flow of the film. A weird sense of coordination
from the violent introduction of Christopher Walken's character Nathan Champion to a sudden realization of needing to have a moral center in
his decision making of what immigrant to kill and to let go. This
quick change up causes more of a confusion then creating a more well
rounded character. From this, Nathan meets Ella and begins the
preliminaries of their courtship.
James Averill, Kris Kristofferson,
then shows up to town, though far more sober than the Butchers Cut
would show, and instantly we follow along the bigger story of the
cattle barons setting up a death list.
The film then contracts and pulls
against itself in trying to tell both these stories of the love
triangle and encroaching danger and ultimately are left a mess.
Averill, Ella, and Nathan don't get the moments to truly flesh out
themselves in this world and the danger never really builds up to the
violent climax as the movie stops and goes between the two
storylines.
The biggest addition that this has over the Butchers Cut
is the placing of the Harvard sequence back at the front of the film
but with the deletion of John Hurt's speech. Also included is the ending coda of
Averill in the future. Alone on his yacht and old as dirt as he reminiscences on the day he was to leave Johnson County with Ella and his buddy
Bridges but the cattle barons shoot the two down with Averill crying
over her death. His idealistic goals achieving nothing in the end
except loneliness. An idea that works in theory but execution here
doesn't do much for me. Though for all its fault, its troubling to
see the vitriol that the film brought.
The Aftermath
To claim this version of Heaven's Gate as one of the worst
film of all time or the biggest disaster to ever hit the big screen seems to be more highfalutin exclamations than with any comment of real merit. This reaction only verifying that the press was on the
hunt to take it down no matter what showed up on the screen.
As mentioned in the book
Final Cut, there is a clear divide between the way that Cimino
presents himself to the world and the way that Francis Ford Coppola
presents himself. Now, the reason the two are paired up against each
other is for the fact that Coppola was going through the worst
production while filming Apocalypse Now before and during the production of Cimino's film. Hell on Earth is the only
way to describe it and to watch the documentary Hearts of Darkness is
required viewing to get just a glimpse of the insanity of it all. The
script being rewritten again and again, Martin Sheen having a heart
attack, a typhoon destroying sets, and Fat Marlon Brando not knowing
his lines. The press love to rip into this but the difference is that
Coppola can stand at a press table and talk the talk because he knows
how to sell this slice of madness. One of the greatest artist and capitalists in the
film industry bar none. Cimino though, cannot function in the same way.
If you ever catch an interview with
the guy or listen to him talk, he is very reserved and shy. Speaking
clearly with little enthusiasm and just trying getting the point across.
This happens to him with just simple questions to answer though. When it
comes to having to face journalists then the sweat really starts to pour.
Case in Point: there is a real terrible interview with Gene Shalit, real bad faith stuff, where Gene goes
off about the irresponsibility of the film industry in letting this film waste so much money on just the 1 film and doesn't Cimino
consider it obscene that all this money was spent making a movie
instead of going to feed starving people in other places in the
world. The greatest and dumbest loaded
bullshit question to ask a film director like they could divert funds
like they were Unicef.
he will fucking murder you without hesitation
Regardless, the press were ready to
kill Cimino and they took every opportunity to do so. Ripping and tearing him apart as United Artists did their best at least from what I could read in the
book but knowing that this was written after the fact it could be
gleamed that they were working in their best interest but then again they just spent 40 plus million dollars on a single movie that wasn't
working so why wouldn't it be in their best interest to do damage
control? Cimino though decided it would be best for everyone if he put himself out there and all that did was just make him a
bigger target of all the bitterness and hatred.
Then there was the sudden sell of United
Artists to MGM which is interesting because the ultimate failure of United Artists was that they had became a production
company during the production of Heaven's Gate and now folded after just the 1 movie from
being a successful independent financing company into another failed production company that got bought out from a major studio.
The ultimate kill shot of this is the
amount of damage that this film caused Michael Cimino's career. As mentioned before, 4 movies
after this he had the opportunity to make. 2 in the 80's and 2 in the 90's then a short film
that was part of a collection in 2007. Though if you take a quick look through the decades then you can see that he had been working the entire time trying to get a movie off the ground but he just couldn't get anything he worked on into production.
There is a way to play the Hollywood
game and Cimino couldn't crack it I guess. Then again, its tough to
see why he couldn't get work out in the Europe since they loved the
cut of Heaven's Gate that was playing over there. His career never
recovered and neither would this films reputation until 2012 when he would
personally supervise the restoration of the definitive Directors Cut
of Heaven's Gate which will be the next version to critique upon.
Prelude to The Directors Cut
The Theatrical Cut wouldn't give you much to dwell on and would be a movie that you would watch and forget but movie history and the freaks that preserve it work a different way. There is always room for a director to get their last laugh. Apparently, during the abysmal release of Heaven's Gate stateside, Europeans were given the chance to see a longer version of the film but I can't seem to find verification for this. Though this wouldn't be a new phenomenon as certain international distributors would release different versions of films. I believe that the original version of Once Upon A Time in the West was released in foreign territories while a shortened and streamlined version was released stateside.
As the years went on, this was deemed to be the Directors Cut and people campaigned and championed the film as a lost masterpiece and there would be showings of the film here and there and ultimately a DVD release of this specific version labeled as the Director's Cut. Fun fact is that the cable network Z Channel were the first to show it stateside.
shout-out to this FANTASTIC documentary
This would be the preferred version for anyone wanting to call themselves a fan but by 2012, as Blu-Ray was becoming more prominent and an upgrade over the limitations of DVD, Criterion became a cornerstone for films receiving a visual and audio upgrade for future preservation. Heaven's Gate becoming one of the choices and wouldn't you know it? Michael Cimino takes another crack at the material to release the definitive Director's Cut. One that he could consider the end all be all of his vision. Thirty years and change to bring it to life and now add another 14 years as I get around to picking up the Blu-Ray during a 50% sale at Barnes & Noble this past July.
After having watched the last 2 versions, there was only 1 thing to truly expect: A MASTERPIECE
Directors Cut
It would be tough to go through all the motions of the story that I have written about before as it all tells the same tale for the most part.
There is the opening Harvard sequence that gives, or supposed to give, a notion of young faced James Averill and Billy Irvine graduating and having themselves a ball and all. Billy lamenting that its over but what is it? It is hardly 20 minutes into the film and already its over.
Cut to 20 years later and James Averill arrives to Wyoming. Rumors of the cattle barons in The Association have had enough of Immigrant expansion and are developing a legally sanctioned death list to put an end to it all. James Averill as the Marshal of Johnson County demands legally noted warrants to justify the list. None are provided as so the encroaching danger as these cattle barons set their plan into motion begins.
Introduced before this is Nathan Champion. An immigrant who has learned the talk and walk of America and works for The Association in hunting down cattle thieves. His introduction being the most violent of shooting a man down and walking away. Disdain for immigrants and just wanting to make a buck to get himself somewhere better in life.
Between James and Nathan is Ellen Watson. An immigrant brothel runner who has love for both men and both men want to be the one to take her away from this place. The plot tugs and pulls between the love triangle of these two and The Association goes about in building a mercenary army into essentially invading Johnson County.
The two plots reaching the critical point of Nathan Champion turning against The Association and losing the battle, the entire town of Johnson County fighting against the mercenary army with both sides losing the battle, and then there's the ending with James Averill losing everything he ever had a chance to care about.
Possibly the biggest change of it all is the fact that James Averill as an old man on his yacht is with his wife. A slow reveal to show that the woman he was trying to hook up with during the Harvard sequence is now his wife. She asks for a cigarette and he obliges then goes to the top deck and cries as the sun finishes to set.
Realizations
From the theatrical release which ran at 2
hours and 35 minutes there is now an additional hour that has been
added.
It still all looks tremendously beautiful. This new restoration goes to show the amount of time and care into each shot and there is no way to make a claim that anything of what you see regarding production design, costume
design, or lighting was half-assed. It is all very beautiful and very very shallow. So
where does the failure begin?
Since we begin at the surface, let me ruminate on the shallowness that the surface of this 3 hours and change running time movie fails to achieve. At first glance, its the
lack of score that plays a big hindrance to it all. There is only 1 song that
plays to be considered as a piece of the score and it plays in
the beginning as Averill takes the train into town and at the end when
he is crying on his boat. In between those 2 moments there is music
coming from instruments, though only for specific scenes with musicians
playing which can factor into another 2 scenes, and outside of those
moments its all the sounds of nature. Now nature is beautiful to look
at, especially the way this film went about in capturing those images, but if there was a companion score to go with the film as a whole then this movie
would have been far more digestible to deal with all the way through.
Just go back and look at the hunting sequence in Cimino's previous film The Deer Hunter where
De Niro and Walken are running through the mountains chasing down a
deer and that piece of music starts to play. Giving this scene that looks fantastic a nice kick to make it truly special. None of that is in Heaven's Gate. The film is played mostly quiet and to be honest, its all the worst for it. It makes it all very mundane.
As I try and dig past the surface, I realize that the depth or at least the idea of depth was far more present in this latest version. A little more details in the
characters are present here that were lacking in previous versions as well as a conclusive ending to James
Averill's character. The introductions to the characters are still strong and their existence in the story now works enough, just barely enough, for you to understand the decisions they make in the film but there is still very much something missing from it all and that's the true core of why this movie fails; no emotion.
When we see James Averill cry at the end, we are supposed to connect this moment with the notion that the idealized dreams he had as a Harvard graduate were forever lost by him achieving nothing when it came to the end of the Johnson County war. He failed those he was meant to protect. An emotional core to the film that doesn't seem to exist nor be implemented with what is on the screen to justify any semblance of resonance with anyone. We see a man cry and can only yawn for to have any other emotion would be fooling oneself into thinking that the film was actually successful is capturing anything.
The love triangle never goes where it needs to go with some semblance of affirmation or denial to one another's love. Or something to show to audience that all of it matters. The film wants us to believe it matters but how the fuck can we decide this if we can't connect emotional to their trials and tribulations or of anyone else in the film? What point is there to watch these characters do the things they do? Is Cimino relying on the audiences pure empathy to run the gambit of believing these characters?
The plight of the immigrants is one that the film goes to show in such a black hat vs white hat way that none of it rings truthful or emotional. Even though this sort of story has been told far more successful in say The Magnificent Seven or if you feel fancy Seven Samurai.
The final battle between the mercenaries and townspeople is one that only ends up feeling boring and nihilistic. What is the point of showing me heads getting shot, people exploding, people falling off horses. Nonstop pain and death. The film can't decide on either conveying a message or presenting the material in such a fashion for the audience to decide. Its all a tangible mess that comes up with nothing and leaves one feeling nothing.
This whole film seems like the 3rd act of a much bigger film that never came to be. I was so indignant about the film that when the credits started to roll, I had to go find the script to read and low and behold, I found my answers. After reading the 132 page scenario I can see the why studios would be interested on the possibilities of wanting to buy the project with Cimino attached but there is nothing in the script to tell me that not only will I commit to it but that this script is something that needed to go into production immediately.
The "emotions" it wants to place on display were never connected in such a way to bring forth an emotional depth one way or another to the characters relationship, the Harvard sequence playing tonally different than in the final film most likely sets the uneven kilter of the film itself, and then there's the strange continuity errors that exist only because Cimino, him being the sole credited writer, didn't want to give these characters room to breath.
Pieces are missing but throughout the film, it feels as though there is space and time to create these character moments that would have truly fleshed out the three leads and make the film be able to breathe so much better. Its a 132 page script that could have ultimately succeeded with those little moments but as the credits currently end on the Directors Cut, its still a film that never worked in the first place and possibly never could have if Cimino had released his initial 5 hour cut.
Aftermath
There must have been a point in production when Cimino must have realized that he was way the fuck over his head. He knew that what he was putting on film wasn't working, Isabelle Hupert's performance as Ella probably being the biggest failure of the film, but with his ego fueling him and everyone around following his every order without question then must have believed he would be able to pull it off in the end. He had just won the Best Director Oscar just last year; why the fuck couldn't he pull it off? It's a shame he never had a decent producer to work with or a company financing his film to truly hold him accountable. I don't believe he should have been blackballed but its tough to make the case against it looking back and seeing that this Directors Cut fails to succeed in creating some lost masterpiece that everyone claimed it is. One of the very many times where you must not believe the hype.
the number one rule for every movie
Lastly, it seems
detrimental to call this a Western. Westerns as a genre were
a cornerstone in American film productions up to the late 50's/early
60's, Spaghetti Westerns not included in this set of years, and this
doesn't fit into that genre nor as a revisionist western.
What this film strives to accomplish is much in
the same vein is something akin to Barry Lyndon which gives access to the past events via melodrama. Cimino was far more interested in creating a period piece than a Western.
The overarching goals for American westerns were to
create genre expectations, sometimes passing them, within the core
understanding of what can be perceived as American ideals. Going
west, achieving something for your own, and to be a part of a grander
country. This film doesn't strive for any of these as it goes into
its own way of critiquing the American mythos through shallow inversions of these genre expectations. A true revisionist sentiment would challenge these notions head on but this film has challenged nothing and gives us nothing to critique in regard to the Western.
Spending all this time to discover that the Director's Cut of Heaven's Gate is
not a masterpiece as others claim it to be is not wasted time. I have
learned a lot regarding film history, film structure, and ultimately how
ego can be the truest enemy when it comes to the individual. There will never be another Heaven's Gate for no director will ever be able to achieve an ego like what Michael Cimino achieved.
An Aside Regarding The Script
What follows next is my journey into making sense of the script for Heaven's Gate. There was a part of me that was
interested into reading the script that set this all off so I went about and found a copy. What draft I cannot say but I do know that it
is a second or so draft as there is now the opening prologue and coda
that start and end the film that was missing from the original draft
entitled Johnson County War. What follows was a journal I transcribed into the bottom of this review for fun. I have cleaned it up for the most part but don't expect explanations unless you have seen the film multiple times to have the scenes be familiar to the point of bringing it up to your memory. Enjoy.
I had a day so I figured I could read
it and some revelations came about in doing this part of research and
I feel much more guaranteed in my actual opinion of the film.
The following will be a breakdown of
page number summerizations and highlights
pg. 1 – 5; Plays out similar to
the film with the opening Harvard sequence except that John Hurt's
Billy Irvine isn't the comedian he thinks he is and the speech he
makes comes off as indifferent and pathetic compared to the yuks
everyone gives in the movie to his speech
pg. 5 – 6;The celebratory
sequences seem more involving for the audience as there is actual
interactions with Averill and the girl he falls for in Harvard.
Though in the script she doesn't even get a name. Its just GIRL.
There is a far more enthusiastic flow though between them getting
together to dance instead of just that sweeping shot showing
everyone partying and waltzing around that tree
pg. 6 – 9; Continuing past the
celebration is that one scene of the graduating seniors bum-rushing to the tree past the undergrads to grab a wreath. Not even in the
script is the importance of this truly told but the most important
part is that in makes more sense with it occurring at DUSK more so than in the film when it occurs at MIDDAY. This sense of the day
coming to end seems far more adequate and ultimately when the
Harvard sequence ends at night, makes a whole lot more sense to a
viewer. Though the scene in the film does not reach what the script
describes the scene as on page 9;
We
see everywhere shirts are torn and bloody, faces are swollen and are
cut and stained with blood; everyone there moved more than they
care to admit; singing with such great depth of feeling, they are
like one voice –a voice so vibrant, so pure, that it seems enough
to break the heart. It builds to an unbearably emotional climax.
As written in the script, it does feel more so of a better written coming to an end portion to these young
men compared to what ended up in the film. Though this effect is
most likely because of United Artists clamping down on Cimino to get
the film done.
pg. 9 – 12; This portion
comprising of Nathan Champion's introduction to the film. Which for
the most part being the same except the child in the script is
around 10 or so and the scene opens up with him pumping water as
seen at the bottom of page 9;
His
figure quivers in a heat mirage off the snow. The distant CREAK of
the pump SOUNDING like a strange animal, exhausted or dying, as in
the background we see an emigrant's shack.
Which
brings up an interesting aspect to this slaying because in the film
the boy is somewhere around 1 or 2 years old. When I was reading the
script, it reminded me for a second of that moment from Once Upon
A Time in the West when the
McBain family is massacred. Felt like it was growing into that kind
of situation. Though from there, the film follows the script and
Nate kills the man through a bed sheet. The wife though in the
script is vomiting and shaking at the sight of her dead husband.
Then the script follows Nate going back to his horse and
environmental storytelling is being done to set up the villains
later on. Far more descriptive of the scene as nature rides to the
walking train of emigrants but this is all in the film. Though in
the script, there is this little notion right before the scene cuts
on page 12:
As
Champion spots the Emigrants, he sights with massive resignation,
then quirts his horse hard, galloping straight toward them, cutting
as close to the rickety wooden carts as possible, covering everyone
in a moving cloud of swirling dust and snow.
I
suppose that Walken wasn't the greatest horse rider to accomplish
this scene but it does go a whole lot farther in the script than it
does in the film.
pg.
12 – 30; Jim Averill arriving to town is just about the same here
as it is in the script and this is including the fighting for the
immigrant family, visiting the cattle barons, and meeting up with
the immigrant family back on the road though there are some
deviations in how its all presented. The first being that the script
strictly sticks with Averill on the train. It doesn't cut to the
train arriving to town or any exterior shots of Casper, Wyoming. The
only way we know he arrives into Casper is that he sees a sign
through the slits in his window.
Though
having the film focus strictly on him presents this clearer divide
between American's and the incoming flux of immigrants which I think
could have set the film off on a better trail. What's interesting to
me is that the script was setting up this grand reveal of the world
20 years later but doesn't necessarily commit to it on the screen.
EXT.
CASPER RAILROAD DEPOT – DAY
Crowded
onto the platform we see a huge, motley horde of more EMIGRANTS. The
women sit on broken boxes and cartons tied with rope. Children are
dirty, noisy, tearful; and baggage lies around in the open
everywhere. Inside – we see – through the windows – elegant
LADIES and GENTLEMEN in separate waiting rooms, playing cards,
smoking, carefully separated from the filthy hordes outside.
Theatrical posters announcing a performance of Othello
are posted side by side with new notices to the effect that 'The
Governor of Wyoming is willing to give all possible assistance to
men who will help eliminate the present state of anarchy in Johnson
county.
There is just so much here in
the script that doesn't show up on the screen and I can't understand
why. Where the hell is all this production?!?! Cimino had time and
money to pull off what was in the script but it ain't here!
Continuing on, what happens in
the script happens in the movie. Averill meets up with Cully, now
working as the stationmaster, and they talk about the state of the
world. Then as Averill goes to the store, there is mention of a
crowd forming to see a hanging. Possible the only real reference
shown in the script to law and order and it doesn't exist in the
movie. It's inclusion would have done more to create the overall
mood of how law revolved around this kind of place. For all its
modern civilization, there still lies a sense of barbarianism to
solving troubles. Averill goes to the store and notices the family
getting bullied outside but doesn't do anything much like the film.
In the store now is where
Morrison is introduced as the heavy in the film. The guy that goes
one on one with Averill or so the movie leads up to believe. The
script keeps going as the movie and Averill goes outside and helps
out the family by beating up the bullies. Averill in the script
being far more confrontational about it than how Kristofferson
played it in the movie. Sort of laid back and easy going.
Script goes on with Averill going to the Wyoming Stock Growers' Association. Billy is here but
far more broken in his drunkenness than the jolly presentation that
John Hurt gives in the film. Averill and Billy meeting up is the
same but now there is some background information regarding a shot
that always felt out of place in the film.
In the film Kristofferson looks
at the wall and it cuts to photos. No explanation could be gathered
from the look but on page 26 of the script;
He
drains the rest of his brandy. Behind him is a wall of sports
photographs. One of the football teams show Averill as a young
Harvard quarterback. James G. Averill – to his left, William C.
Irvine – to his right, Theodore Roosevelt, etc., Harvard Class of
'70. Averill resumes his play.
To have to stop and explain this
would be strange but the film doesn't necessarily set up the notion
that the two men knew the goddamn future President of the United
States. This idea of higher class would have been far more
successful in presenting Averill's sense of idealism more so than
what the film ultimately offered.
The script and film moving
similar except in the confrontation with Canton Averill throws a
punch instead of the slap reply he gives. Another example of him
being far more confrontational. Which is a shame because it could
have added more hatred between the two. Averill then goes about in
taking his carriage and horse out of town and meets up with the
family that was getting bullied. This scene existing in the
Directors Cut and does not appear in either the Butcher's or Theatrical cut of the film.
You see that they men came back
and shot the husband dead in retribution. Averill offers to help but
the widow says that she will instead go to their land and make
something of it. Averill leaving her, her kids, and dead husband to
pull their cart while he rides away feeling useless. A very
bittersweet way to end his arrival back to town.
pg. 30 – 62; So here comes the
biggest and most misunderstood layering of the space of time that
the film fails to signify. I don't know why it affects me so much
but the representation of time breaks my brain so much because of it
all. So after the previous scene this is the next heading on page
30.
EXT. THE ROAD – NEXT DAY, DAWN
I knew that there was a missing
moment in this film. It never plays right of Averill to go straight
to the town right after the moment with the family on the road. This
guy is the sheriff of Johnson County and there was a murder but
instead of investigating the murder or anything, he goes straight to
town to say this shit is about to hit the fan.
A failure in the script to be
honest to have a scene connecting the end of one day to the next and
instead play it off as a single day of him arriving to Casper then
heading to town. No sense of time or distance but I digress, what is
more important is the scene that follows.
In the film, Averill goes to
Johnson County. In the script he visits the the Kovach homestead,
Michael Kovach being the slain immigrant from the beginning, and
meets with the widow. Fascinating and just puts Averill back down to
reality at the situation growing. Then its him going to town.
The main difference here being
that its now Sunday morning. This being another reference to it
being the next day. The cockfight is still in the movie. Woof. Then
there's the gun scene but J.B. , Jeff Bridges character, hands him
his own rifle. Doesn't happen in the film. Also, J.B. is now an
older person compared to the younger man in the film. There's also
this scene of a man coming in to start a commotion regarding an
immigrant encroaching on their land. That's in the Directors Cut and
not in the other two.
Averill goes to Ella's place,
where its a hog ranch in the script compared to a cabin and barn in
the film, though there is also a mention of seeing cattle that were
branded to set up the issues to come but that's not here either.
Then
the script comes to the biggest revelation of Michael Cimino's
sensibilities. He is such a prude when it comes to love and romance.
There is only the hint of sexual tension between Averill and Ella
and never a moment of them consummating their love. Their a almost
moment but there is nothing truly committing to their love and it
goes beyond the love they supposedly they have for one another. It's
supposedly the main selling point of the film but it doesn't go as
strong as it could have. The most conservative take on this
material.
The movie follows the script for
the most part except that there is mention on page 41 of something
beyond their romance:
Ella:
I thought you were supposed to be my silent
partner?
An indication that their
relationship splits between her maintaining a brothel while he is
law enforcement. A little more to add to them that isn't there.
The movie going on with them
riding the carriage to town then having their impromptu picnic. Here
is another recognition of Morrison being set up as a prominent villain. Him hunting in the area as Ella and Averill having their
picnic. Not in the movie but could have worked.
Script is the movie is the movie
is the script except for their argument where Ella grabs Averill's
gun! Why isn't that not in the movie?!
The movie then going into that
roller skating sequence except the script catches them in media res
instead of making a big show of it all starting from the very
beginning of the fiddler rolling around the rink a couple times
before the band kicks up the music. All a good time and there isn't
any specific action to make Ella and Averill stand out nor have that
moment of them walking out to the lake and saying that she should
leave.
Now, here is something else that
differs.
EXT. TRAIN – NIGHT
I fucking knew that this scene
that follows is not placed in the Directors Cut properly. Nor is it
placed properly in the theatrical cut but is almost there. This
scene of Canton hiring mercenaries takes place right after Averill
meeting and passing the bullied immigrant family. A very jarring
moment as it breaks the continuity of the film since this scene
takes place at Night and the film then cuts to Nathan Champion
hunting down more immigrants but that doesn't work out as well and
then we are back to Averill riding the carriage. Creating this false
sense of the next day but this doesn't work! It's all a push for
something that doesn't work! AHHH!
The script continues on with the
scene of Christopher Walken catching an immigrant stealing a cow. He
stops him.
The film now having this scene
and the previous earlier in the film that breaks the cohesion of the
script and pacing since there is a mention of Ella laying on her
back to service the immigrants. This little moment now being thrown
in later in the film. A real cut up job all around to make it work.
The script follows the film, for
the most part, and is back on track with Nathan Champion going to
Ella's place and helps her out by taking Averill back to town and
dropping off at his place. Only thing of note here is Nate seeing
the photo of Averill at Harvard with the girl that script exclaims
on page 59;
Immediately we recognize her as
the young woman in the window at Harvard.
Then Nate goes back and hooks
up with Ella though its very conservative as nothing is shown
except her butt. This here being the beginning notion of the love
triangle that ultimately doesn't go anywhere.
Pg. 62 – 65; This scene has
always been an issue for me when looking at the movie. It's the only
time the two main characters of the film, Averill and Champion, have
a conversation. It's a conversation about nothing but what's to be
about everything. Nothing is occurring and nothing is gained except
that Averill needs Ella to move on out of Johnson County. Very
boring stuff to be honest and an indication that the studio heads that allowed the movie to proceed didn't see the inherent flaws in
this thing. 60 something pages before the personal conflict arises?
No time spent in developing their relationships or anything? It just
is?!? What is this? Television?
Pg. 65 – 87; The movie
following the script for the most part as James and the Mayor go to
the baseball game that the National Guard is playing and get the death-list then Averill goes to Ella's house and fights Nathan with
the only addition being that Morrison is present in the tree-lines watching. This going into creating him to be more and more of a
villain figure than the film actually accomplishes. Averill and the
town hold an impromptu court where he starts naming names that are
on the death list.
Ella drops off Nathan at his
house then its the mercenaries coming into town and getting ready to
go out on the attack. Cully, the stationmaster, goes about in trying
to warn Johnson County beforehand. Then its back at Nathans where
Ella leaves to go back home and that is where Morrison and his gang
are waiting for her. They had already beat, maybe killed? Not too
sure, the woman of pleasure upstairs and then go about in raping her
and Averill comes in to save the day.
That seems to be another issue
that the script doesn't have an answer for which is the small amount
of time that Averill appeared at the house. There is nothing wrong
with it but it does create this sudden/unrealistic arrival that
throws the movie out of whack but that seems to be a repeating
offense for Michael Cimino.
Averill kills everyone and
Morrison escapes. Nathan shows up and little baby confrontation and
its a nothing burger way to end a scene. Shots of Champion making
his way to the Association's camp at night, though its daytime in
the film which causes more issues of time passing, and confronts
Canton. A lot more direct in the violent natures of the mercanries
that the movie glances over. Movie follows the script where its back
at Ella's place. She and Averill having a conversation about the
future. Melodrama melodrama.
Then it cuts to the scene of
Averill in his room at night. Sullen and sad as J.B. Enters the room
and they share a drink. I believe this scene is in the Director's
Cut but not the Theatrical one.
Movie continues following the
script; Averill in bed hungover, gets fired but quits.
Then cut to Cully being awoken
by a Mercenary then is ultimately killed by the army of mercenaries.
This scene occurring much earlier in the Directors Cut where it
occurs after the scene in which the mercenaries first enter Johnson
County. A very strange sequence of events as it shows Cully going
off to warn the County then deciding to take a nap before and
getting caught by the mercenaries.
The town readies themselves and
the Mercenaries camp out Nathan Champion's cabin. Much like the
finished film with the destruction and death of Nathan Champion
being what sets off the town onto attacking the mercenaries. A dead end of a fight but one that lasts into the night. Averill
wanting to leave the County but gets sucked into the battle just
like in the script. He helps them build go-devils just like the
Roman's 2000 years ago.
The only main deviation is that
Averill goes about in digging a grave for Champion. Alone in his
action and something that could have worked out great for the film
if they had committed. Then the film follows the script some more
with the final battle and the final couple of scenes.
The battle won but also lost,
Ella and Averill make their way out of town towards East but Canton
makes a surprise attack and shoots Ella. Averill killing him and
holding Ella.
All of this written far greater
in the script than it comes off in my writing but also, its a shame
that this sensitivity isn't pulled off in the movie.
Averill pulls off his jacket and
covers Ella's wound with the damp covering. Then he takes her into
his arms and puts his cheek, wet with mist and rain, against hers
and, although she cannot hear, he whispers into her ear:
Averill: Goodbye, beautiful...
He is as closed to being moved
to tears as he will ever be. He gently lowers her to the ground, the
rain pouring over her face, her skin glowing in the soft light.
Averill turns away with a look of infinite emptiness that seems to
penetrate to the depths of his should, and without a word, he walks
just a bit down the road, then begins to run. A shadowy figure
running slowly in the misty rain.
Very
nice stuff but comes off clunky in the movie. Then the script has
that final coda of him being back to his old East coast high class
society, his wife asking for a cigarette and he gives one to her. An
ending that existed in the Directors Cut but forgoes in the Theatrical Cut. Then he goes onto the top deck of the yacht and
watches the sunset and cries.
I
do not understand how a film like this would have been green light unless there was absolute trust, or blind faith, that a director like
Michael Cimino would be able to pull it off with the initial budget
and shooting schedule but even then, there isn't much in the script
to give credence that they were working with something that would
bring them an Oscar contender.
Reading
this script makes me start to believe the theory that Deric Washburn
played a far greater hand in bringing out the emotional aspects of
The Deer Hunter because here, it all seems to play a little flat.
There is a dramatic falseness all throughout regarding the love
triangle that is not as interesting as the movie wants it to be nor
is the ultimate struggle of the Eastern European Immigrant being unwelcomed in the time of western expansion. I believe all this is
fertile ground to tell a story but this is not the story that would
ultimately convince anyone as perfect in the shape it is in.
