Michael Cimino’s writing makes room for friendships and communal life, sometimes at the expense of getting on with the story. We value that patience, particularly in The Deer Hunter, but the speeches can test it.
Fi1m perspective
At the wedding in The Deer Hunter (1978), Michael Cimino lets the celebration continue well beyond the point at which the plot could move along. We were moved because that time together made the friends feel like people we knew. He has story and directing credits here, and his attention to civilian life makes the later suffering matter. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken make the friendship compelling, though Meryl Streep’s restrained Linda deserves more space than Cimino’s concentration on the men allows. Some passages still push too hard for a response.
The problem is already there in Silent Running (1972), which he co-wrote with Deric Washburn and Steven Bochco for director Douglas Trumbull. Lowell’s speeches about forests and what children have never seen push a sincere science-fiction fable towards a lecture. The responsibility is shared, but the habit of making an already clear point again is familiar from Cimino’s own films. His move into directing came with the heist film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), for which he also wrote the screenplay.
Heaven’s Gate (1980), which he wrote and directed, gives communal life still more room, sometimes more than the story can afford. Vilmos Zsigmond’s photography and David Mansfield’s music help make the gatherings worth the wait, and we understand why Cimino is reluctant to leave them. The screenplay is less reliable with the romance: Kris Kristofferson and Isabelle Huppert find a warmth in their waltz that the dialogue does not consistently supply. Christopher Walken’s watchfulness as Nathan D. Champion also helps when the writing gives the performers too little to develop. This is a Western we recommend for its communities, with a warning that the story often drifts.
He went on to write and direct the crime drama Year of the Dragon (1985), but the earlier communal scenes remain our reason to return to his work. We are less persuaded when characters announce what their behaviour has already made clear. We would trim the speeches before cutting down the weddings and dances. Start with The Deer Hunter, on an evening when you can give it your full attention.
Biography
Michael Cimino was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed, co-wrote the story for and produced The Deer Hunter (1978).
Cimino was born in New York City on 3 February 1939 and died in Los Angeles on 2 July 2016. He began his career directing commercials before writing screenplays, including for Silent Running (1972) and Magnum Force (1973). His first feature as director was Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). The Deer Hunter won five Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Cimino. His later films included Heaven’s Gate (1980), Year of the Dragon (1985) and The Sicilian (1987).
