The Sicilian (1987)

For the record, I'm not a Cimino knocker. I liked Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, I initially thought the Deer Hunter was overrated, but it's grown on me. I actually like Heaven's Gate (although the last third drags - and in a film of that length a third is a LONG time)... it also is obvious that it shouldn't have cost that much (The book on the making of it, Final Cut is a must read). Year Of The Dragon, I liked, even with the stereotyping and awful leading lady (where did she disappear too?)I just want to make a short and simple comment - worst dancing scene ever by an actor. Joss Ackland, the singing and dancing fool. Also, Cimino needs to seriously get out of this 'I want to be like Coppola' thing... it's not working. The Sicilian is junk.It's hard to tell if Cimino is talented or if he has a habit of picking good cinematographers... the only good point in The Sicilian

Cimino has created an epic, this is a very ambitious film, which unfortunately went exactly nowhere. Christopher Lambert plays Giuliano, a Sicilian bandit/revolutionary in post WW2 Sicily. Cimino effectively balances all of the powers that be --the church, the mafia, the nobility-- and presents a complex picture of the forces that were at work. Giuliano was a peasant hero, a kind of Robin Hood, whose heart was right but whose head lacked the smarts or the wisdom and ended up being destroyed. Watching this film, I thought of Visconti's The Leopard, it has the sweep of that earlier film, starring Burt Lancaster. Cimino has been in disfavor since Heaven's Gate, but with the Sicilian, he proves that he knows how to direct a film, even if no one ever sees it. BTW, this is one of the few films produced by the late David Begelman, who unfortunately blew his brains out, since he was in over his head legally and financially in 1995. Rent the Sicilian, it is on DVD.

This must be one of the really awful films of all time, which belongs in the bottom 100. Must admit to having ignored the score and comment on the site here and purchased the DVD. Terrible mistake.I figured a Cimino directed Puzo film couldn't be that bad - it was. The acting is generally poor with a few exceptions. Notably, Joss Ackland, John Turturro and Giulia Boschi come out with some credit. Christopher Lambert, however, fails to carry the movie, and is as wooden as it gets. Even the Sicilian swagger fails to impress. Barbara Sukowa also is a let down, despite the odd sight of flesh.Cimino is a mega let down. It is as if there were a few scenes left over on the cutting room floor from the Godfather - marvelous scenery though it is - clipped together with a hastily put together script. To add to it all, the editing leaves a lot to be desired.I gave it 2/10, but only due to the scenery and score (which also may have been a hand-me-down from the Godfather).

The European-release version of "The Sicilian" is 31 minutes longer than the US version. Supposedly, the director was ordered to deliver a version under 2 hours, so he recut the film to render it incoherent with the expectation that Fox would have to release the complete film. Only, they went ahead and released the deliberately botched shorter cut. This may be apocryphal, but it would help explain the critical drubbing it got in this country. I was lucky enough to see the complete film in Paris and was mesmerized. Gore Vidal was denied credit for the screenplay, but the film has a literacy, intellectual depth and acidity that is pure Vidal; the character played by Terrance Stamp is essentially Vidal's stand-in. The only comparable film might be "The Godfather," but with an even stronger historic/political context. It is certainly the highpoint of Michael Cimino's career to date, and I'm one of those odd ducks that fervently admires "Heaven's Gate". If you can see this in Europe, or if it comes out over there on DVD and you have a region-appropriate DVD player, grab the opportunity to see it.