Film Director Michael Cimino Passes On

Director Michael Cimino, whose searing 1978 Vietnam War drama “The Deer Hunter” won five Oscars, including Best Picture, died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was born in Long Island and entered the film business with his first success as the co-writer of the 1973 Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry sequel “Magnum Force”.

Cimino directed eight films total and made his directorial debut in 1974 with the movie “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”.

Michael Cimino, who became famous for directing the critically acclaimed The Deer Hunter and the demise of United Artists has died at 77-years-old.

In the years since, “Heaven’s Gate” has been viewed much more favorably, and a 2012 restoration of the director’s full, uncut version bolstered a critical re-evaluation of the film.

The film spelled doom for the rest of the director’s career, as he slowly faded into oblivion.

“Nobody lives without making mistakes”, Mr. Cimino said. It helped such emerging acting talents as Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

“With his visionary approach and attention to every detail, Michael Cimino is forever etched in the history of filmmaking, ” Paris Barclay, president of the Directors Guild of America, said early Sunday. “He will be missed”, De Niro said in a statement.

Flush with the success of that film, Cimino set off to make the epic western morality tale “Heaven’s Gate”. The three -and-a-half hour film was also the victim of bad timing. In recent years, criticism of the film has softened, with some even considering it the director’s misunderstood masterpiece. (A twofer: a ghastly pun and a reference to Stephen Bach’s book blaming Cimino for the collapse of United Artists.) In a 2015 interview, he addressed his hostility to the American press, saying “there have been so many false things written about me by people who don’t know me”.

The “Singer’s Public Access” screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, 48, tweeted: “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Deer Hunter And yes”.

But, bearing the scarlet letter of Heaven’s Gate, Cimino directed a series of “meh” films to close out his career over the last 20 years: 1985’s Year of the Dragon starring Mickey Rourke, Mario Puzo adaptation The Sicilian, 1990’s Desperate Hours, and his final feature in 1996 starring Woody Harrelson, Sunchaser.

He said in 2010: “I never second-guess myself”.

He added: “You can’t look back”. I don’t believe in defeat.

After learning about Cimino’s death, filmmakers led by Academy Award victor Christopher McQuarrie, William Friedkin, Edgar Wright and Jason Reitman paid tribute on Twitter.