Michael Cimino's gigantic new western and his first film since the Oscar-winning "Deer Hunter", is apparently based on a historical incident that occurred in Johnson County, Wyoming in 1890: with the tacit approval of the state government, the county's wealthy cattle barons banded together in a systematic attempt to murder more than 100 German, Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian settlers who were encroaching on their lands. If one can say nothing else on behalf of "Heaven's Gate", it's probably the first western to celebrate the role played by central and eastern Europeans in the settlement of the American West ...
This excerpt above is on behalf the Criterion Collection Edition of "Heaven's Gate" (found in the Internet). Michael Cimino made 10 movies from 1974 to 1996. All of them are Good. He ain't directing or producing anymore. Certainly, he is most under-appreciated. But I would like to expand on the main theme of the Movie - the way it's reviewed above, as tacit war of State Government vs. Band of Eastern European Settlers. Before I get to the point it's useful to remind that Cimino target the Eastern Europeans in America for second time. In "Deer Hunter" (1978), the trio American soldiers in Vietnam are of Russian Orthodox origin. Maybe that was intentional since it was the height of Cold War.
On "Heaven's Gate", the Movie. I have watched it several times in the last three decades, never undistracted and alone. Until recently I couldn't even catch the plot. Thanks to Internet I read on-line that it's about the Johnson County War (historical event that have several Big Screen interpretations). Lastly, when I browsed the Movie on the computer I heard the settlers speak Russian and other Slav languages on their gatherings. Thus I made a connection that lead to this review. And truly speaking, several Cimino's films have peculiar ethnography - e.g., consider "Year of the Dragon" with China Town plot; "Sicilian" about Partisan Wars in Italy, etc.
Talking of Ethnography and I want to say few words. How American Nation was formed? It's a principal question yet lot of historical matter is involved. Seemingly, the three colonial powers that ruled at different times is not an adequate explanation - Britain, Spain and France hardly give half the Heritage of this vast country. The traditional view should be shattered by many other contributors - Jews (before settlement in Palestine); Germans (before World Wars); Irish and Italians (all the time); People from the Pale (that is, Central and Eastern Europeans), etc. Colored people were there all the time, but that's another story. Muslim ethnos was not evident in American History until that has become fact in the past, say, 50 years. Thank you!
This excerpt above is on behalf the Criterion Collection Edition of "Heaven's Gate" (found in the Internet). Michael Cimino made 10 movies from 1974 to 1996. All of them are Good. He ain't directing or producing anymore. Certainly, he is most under-appreciated. But I would like to expand on the main theme of the Movie - the way it's reviewed above, as tacit war of State Government vs. Band of Eastern European Settlers. Before I get to the point it's useful to remind that Cimino target the Eastern Europeans in America for second time. In "Deer Hunter" (1978), the trio American soldiers in Vietnam are of Russian Orthodox origin. Maybe that was intentional since it was the height of Cold War.
On "Heaven's Gate", the Movie. I have watched it several times in the last three decades, never undistracted and alone. Until recently I couldn't even catch the plot. Thanks to Internet I read on-line that it's about the Johnson County War (historical event that have several Big Screen interpretations). Lastly, when I browsed the Movie on the computer I heard the settlers speak Russian and other Slav languages on their gatherings. Thus I made a connection that lead to this review. And truly speaking, several Cimino's films have peculiar ethnography - e.g., consider "Year of the Dragon" with China Town plot; "Sicilian" about Partisan Wars in Italy, etc.
Talking of Ethnography and I want to say few words. How American Nation was formed? It's a principal question yet lot of historical matter is involved. Seemingly, the three colonial powers that ruled at different times is not an adequate explanation - Britain, Spain and France hardly give half the Heritage of this vast country. The traditional view should be shattered by many other contributors - Jews (before settlement in Palestine); Germans (before World Wars); Irish and Italians (all the time); People from the Pale (that is, Central and Eastern Europeans), etc. Colored people were there all the time, but that's another story. Muslim ethnos was not evident in American History until that has become fact in the past, say, 50 years. Thank you!
