Description
This assignment requires the students to construct an argument and back it up with evidencefrom readings, class materials and their own research. Students will choose from a variety of box office flops and follies and
analyze how studio manhandling, directors’ chest-beating and other forces contributed to a given project’s demise, then
outline potential methods whereby these projects could have been salvaged during a crucial juncture in the production process. Candidates for investigation include Orson Welles (Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil), John Huston (Red Badge of Courage), Terry Gilliam (Don Quixote), Michael Cimino (Heaven’s Gate), Elaine May (Ishtar), John Cassavetes (AChild Is Waiting), Charlie Chaplin (Monsieur Verdoux), Steven Soderbergh (Che) and others we will discuss in class.Grading Criteria (What constitutes a good assignment?): Answers the question posed; analysis is thoughtful, accurate,and detailed; writing is clear and free of errors; essay is neatly organized and presented and of proper length; demonstrates good understanding of conventions of academic writing; argument is clearly laid out and fully backed up by references and evidence.
You can choose any of the movies listed above, the one you might know something about.
Essay, APA format, citations, 1500-2000 word count
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: HEAVEN’S GATE
1
Why Michael Cimino’s Heaven's Gate Was a Flop and a Failure
Name
Institution
HEAVEN’S GATE
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Why Michael Cimino’s Heaven's Gate Was a Flop and a Failure
Introduction
Heaven’s Gate is the name of the 1980 American epic Western motion picture that
was directed and written by the late Michael Cimino. Heaven’s Gate is regarded as one of the
biggest box office flops of all time. It was also initially considered as one of the worst films
ever made. The film opened up to very poor reviews and made a huge loss with regards to
budget. The effect of its failure was the collapse of its parent company, United Artists, as
well as the destruction of the reputation of its director, Cimino, who was previously
considered a rising Hollywood director thanks to his Oscar-winning 1978 film, The Deer
Hunter. There has been significant interest in the film due to the positive reviews that some
critics have given it in the decades since its release. In this regard, this essay examines
Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate and argues that it was a failure due to time overruns, bad
production due to cost, bad press such as animal abuse allegations, poor characterization, and
allegations of Cimino’s overbearing directorial methods.
Plot Summary
The film is loosely predicated on the Johnson County War and depicts a made-up
dispute between the European immigrants and the land barons in Wyoming in the 1890s.
Two young men – Bill Irvine and Jim Averill – graduate from Harvard College in 1870. Two
years later, Averill, who is now a marshal, passes through the town of Casper, Wyoming, as
he is headed towards Johnson County. Poor immigrants from Europe are at loggerheads with
the wealthy cattle barons. At a board meeting for the stockers, the head of their association,
Frank Canton, tells the members, including Irvine, of a plan to kill 125 settlers as anarchists.
Averill, who encounters Irvine after the meeting, exchanges blows with Canton and knocks
him to the floor. Canton decides to recruit men to kill the 125 settlers.
HEAVEN’S GATE
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Averill dances in a huge roller skating rink known as “Heaven’s Gate” with Ella
Watson, a Johnson County bordello woman...
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