Heaven's Gate – Das Tor zum Himmel (1980)

Heaven’s Gate – Das Tor zum Himmel: Directed by Michael Cimino. With Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston. During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.

“Iu0026#39;m only one of a very few people who has actually seen BOTH versions of u0026quot;Heavenu0026#39;s Gateu0026quot;. A frequently asked question is u0026quot;Why was it ripped apart so badly?u0026quot; The answer lies in this story here:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn 1984 I rented u0026quot;Heavenu0026#39;s Gateu0026quot; in order to show a friend of mine who had wanted to know if the film was as bad as he had heard. About 50 or so minutes into the film, Averill walks into Casper, Wyoming, which at the time this scene takes place is 1890. The town is filled with many meticulously dressed pedestrians, and the streets are filled with horses and buggies. My friend starts laughing uncontrollably. I asked, u0026quot;Did I miss something?u0026quot; He pulls himself together and says, u0026quot;You gotta be kidding. There ainu0026#39;t even that many people in Casper, Wyoming NOW.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat in a nutshell can easily describe what went wrong. The film reeks of a director desperately trying to convince us that this movie is very important and cries for us to think heu0026#39;s an absolute genius. Actors take long breaths between sentences as though they were going to choke on what they are saying (man, just wait till you get to the scene where the deathlist is read out – you truly believe heu0026#39;ll read all 125 names), while every shot is filled with either smoke or dust in order to give us the feeling that this is ART. Caminou0026#39;s intentions were honorable as I truly believed that he believed he was making a masterpiece. This is what happens when you go out to make a masterpiece. I had only wished he tried to go out and make a good western. Then this film might have worked.”