​​Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven’s Gate, and the Price of a Vision

Filmmaker Michael Cimino (1939–2016) remains a mysterious figure in this intriguing biography from novelist Elton (Mr. Toppit). Based on copious interviews, including with Cimino’s estranged brothers and his collaborator Joann Carelli, Elton’s account offers a variety of perspectives on an artist who sought to obfuscate his own identity. Born in Westbury, N.Y., Cimino was a “talented artist,” had a “superficial” bad-boy persona, and remained elusive even to his childhood friends. After college he became a well-known TV commercial director, but his reputation as the toast of Hollywood came for his 1978 Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter, then plummeted to industry pariah after his 1980 film Heaven’s Gate exceeded budgets and schedules and was a critical and commercial flop. In the ensuing years, he only directed four more films. Then, in 2012, he released his original cut of Heaven’s Gate to much acclaim. Elton has a sure hand with behind-the-scenes details and is even-handed in his appraisals, describing Cimino’s “meticulous, detail-heavy direction” that could skew toward “nit-picking attention to detail” as both a strength and a weakness. A somewhat murky picture of Cimino emerges, though Elton wrestles commendably with an elusive subject who reportedly said of himself, “I don’t know most of the people I’ve been.” Film buffs will find much to enjoy. Photos. (Apr.)