“Here are the spent shell casings,” writes Steven Bach in the introduction to his extraordinary 1985 book
Final Cut, which chronicles the legendarily troubled production of
Heaven’s Gate. Bach paints the making of the film as a war of attrition between its director, Michael Cimino, and the studio that signed off on its making. As in all the bloodiest and most intractable battles, neither side could really claim victory. All that Bach could do as the last man standing was try to tell the tale.
History is written by the winners, except when they conveniently forget to put pen to paper; the script for
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