There's nothing to do but recommend this beautiful film to you, my precious seventeen readers. With soft lighting, social conflict, and sexual obsession, "Heaven's Gate" plays out like "Barry Lyndon" in Wyoming, and is at least as good as that film. Chiefly remembered as one of the biggest box-office bombs in history, Cimino's once notorious $30 million budget is now the minimum price for any major studio release. Clocking in at 220 minutes, patience is required and rewarded.
Kris Kristofferson is a strong lead, but is dominated by Isabelle Huppert in a star-making performance as Ella, a whore with a heart. Ella must choose between the good-lookin' rebel that plays by his own rules (Kristofferson) and the cold but committed Christopher Walken. She loves the rebel but can't wait forever.
None of this romantic plot really matters: this is a story about the immigrant experience in frontier country. Just about every western (especially Ford) features a Swede or some other accented European running a store or a bar, just trying to get by. Usually they are limited to comic relief, but as "Heaven's Gate" depicts, the reality of the life of the immigrant was anything but comical.
The immigrants are so poor after they spend their savings to purchase land, that they must steal to survive. The wealthy ranchers can't bear to see their cattle get picked off one by one, and form a government sponsored mob of head-hunters. They create a "death-list" of 125 immigrants and start hunting them down, one by one.
Kristofferson is the hero with a conscience, trying to stop the murder. Walken is on the side of the killers. Things get complicated when Ella, the woman they both love, finds her name on the death list. Violence erupts, often explicit in nature. Gruesome scenes of rape and slaughter punctuate the evil that so much of the United States was founded on.
This film is a sight to behold. The VHS transfer is an attrocity, and although I believe it is available on Laser Disc, "Heaven's Gate" to the best of my knowledge has not yet been released on DVD. Zsigmond's landscapes rival Almendros' in "Days of Heaven." The detail of the locations and costumes is second to none, and the climactic battle scene is like the Calgary Stampede on LSD-a magnificent spectacle to be sure.
Sam Waterston is pure evil as the creator of the "death list." Jeff Bridges disappears into his supporting role as a bar owner who takes advantage of the immigrants with his talent for translating languages, but eventually fights for their cause. John Hurt also shines as a member of the upper-class who takes to the bottle as an antidote for the shame he feels for himself and for his people. Look fast for Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, and
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