Known more for its notorious reputation, Heaven’s Gate thrives as an epic historical western of beautiful craftsmanship and striking, albeit unfocused, filmmaking by Michael Cimino.

Good or bad, some movies live and die upon their notoriety, and Heaven’s Gate was as notorious as they come. Written and directed by Michael Cimino (whose previous film The Deer Hunter won big at the Oscars), Heaven’s Gate went over budget and under delivered upon its lofty expectations, due to Cimino’s monstrous perfectionist approach to his craft. The results were the closure of film studio United Artists, the end of the “New Hollywood” filmmaking phase (which featured the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Robert Altman), and the final nail in the coffin of Cimino’s once burgeoning career.

Take away the sound and the fury, and what you will find is that Heaven’s Gate is a film that’s incredible and frustrating in equal measure, dictated purely by Cimino’s artistic vision and his politics, as he seeks to remind a post-Vietnam world of a brutal chapter in the history of the United States of America. A film of its time, yet timeless in its craft and subject. A film worthy of its revisionist take decades after it was pummelled to near death upon release.

Set in 1890, Heaven’s Gate stars Kris Kristofferson as James Averill, a county marshal assigned to Johnson County, Wyoming. There he witnesses the regions poor European immigrants in conflict with cattle barons who have accused the settlers of stealing their stock. Leading this charge is Frank Canton (Sam Waterson), who compiles a list of 125 settlers to be killed by a posse of hired killers. Among the names is Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert), a bordello madam romantically linked with Averill and his friend Nick Champion (Christopher Walken), who is an enforcer for Canton. With a line drawn in the sand, the respective characters lead to a standoff in what would become the Johnson County War.

At 219 minutes long, Heaven’s Gate can be an endurance test for some, and there is no doubt that the film would have benefited from much more focus from Cimino, which is odd considering his tyrannical, perfectionist approach to telling this story. Of particular mention is the battle scenes near the films conclusion, that are a loud, confusion mash of throwaway characters, explosions, and gun smoke, as Cimino throwing everything he can at the screen except for a sense of clarity.

Where Heaven’s Gate does shine is in the films story of hope and suffering for strangers in a strange land, and the murderous nature of the men who seek to end their existence. Much like The Deer Hunter before it, Heaven’s Gate features a socially conscious pulse that beats heavy, with the plight of European immigrants in the Western United States shown in suitably brutal fashion, with the search for the “American dream” becoming an nightmare. We feel for these men, women, and children, as they succumb to desperate measures in a bid for survival not only against the elements, but the contempt of the rich land barons who have them in their crosshairs.

Cimino presents this saga in American history with exquisite period detail that at times ventures into the surreal, such as the simply magical scene set within a roller skating rink (yes, such things existed in 1890), in which the score by David Mansfield (The Year of the Dragon) truly shines. Cimino enlisted many superb craftsmen to bring his vision to life, such as cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and production designer Tambi Larsen (The Outlaw Josey Wales).

Performances are a mixed bag, although mostly good. Kristofferson brings that sense of nobility and justice to his liberal rich kid turned lawman Averill; Walken pulls off both sneering villainy and sympathy; and Sam Watterson is downright deplorable as the film’s main villain. Of the main players it is Isabelle Huppert, who was little known to audiences outside of France at the time, and does little with her role, save for disrobe with ease.    

Time has been kind to Heaven’s Gate. Now recut and restored, it Is indeed a demanding watch, a bold and engrossing saga let down by controversy and scandal, yet buoyed by Cimino’s uncompromising and far reaching vision.