Michael Cimino - Definition

Michael Cimino (born February 3, 1939) is an American film director.

Cimino's biography is an example of one of the meteoric rises and falls that were seen in Hollywood in the 1970s. With two writing credits on his record (the science fiction film Silent Running and the second Dirty Harry film Magnum Force), he moved up to directing with the Clint Eastwood film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot which he also co-wrote with Eastwood. His second film, The Deer Hunter, was a massive critical success, and won a number of Oscars, including one for Best Director.

On the back of this record, he was given free rein by United Artists for his next film, Heaven's Gate. The result not only was a financial disaster that nearly bankrupted the studio, but the film was also widely viewed as being the most visible example of the out-of-control state of Hollywood at that time.

None of his subsequent films matched the success of The Deer Hunter. In 2001 he published his first novel, Big Jane. Later that year the French Minister of Culture decorated him "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres."

Filmography

Director:

• Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
• The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Heaven's Gate (1980)
• Year of the Dragon (1985)
• The Sicilian (1987)
• Desperate Hours (1990)
• The Sunchaser (1996)

External Links

• Cimino's Bio on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001047/)
• 2002 article from The New York Observer (http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=5434)