Director Michael Cimino (1939-2016) is famous for two films: The Deer Hunter, which won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars in 1979, and Heaven's Gate, which failed so completely it put United Artists out of business and ended Hollywood's auteur era. Or so the conventional wisdom goes. Here Charles Elton delves into the making and aftermath of the film, and offers a surprisingly different view. Interviewing peers, collaborators, enemies, and friends (most of whom had never spoken before), Elton unravels the enigmas and falsehoods that surround Cimino—many perpetrated by the director himself—and sheds new light on his extraordinary career.

"While Elton's book first appears structured as a conventional biography, it ultimately plays more like a mystery novel, as the author interrogates various witnesses in search of the Rosebud that offers a key to Cimino's hidden life"—Hollywood Reporter

"Elton has a sure hand with behind-the-scenes details and is even-handed in his appraisals…. Film buffs will find much to enjoy."—Publishers Weekly