HEAVEN'S GATE - VOLLSTäNDIGE, RESTAURIERTE FASSUNG

In 1870 two friends - Jim Averill and Bill Irvine - are celebrating their graduation at Harvard. Twenty years later, Johnson Country, Wyoming: Jim has become Marshall; Bill drinks and has joined a confederation of cattle-owners fighting against the increasing number of foreign settlers. To definitively dispel them from the area the cattle barons draw up a list of the names of 125 farmers and hire professional killers to carry out the murders. Despite of all his efforts Jim cannot prevent the attacks from happening.

25 years after the first release the Berlinale presented a sensation this year: the film that has led to the downfall of legendary production company “United Artists” and that’s history of origins equals an endless odyssey of desperation, failure and compromises had only existed as a torso, as the anticipation of an original, dreamed piece of work. Now this film can be seen restored, reconstructed and in its original full version. From the old pieces, snatches and blanks an overwhelming intoxicating cinematic fresco emerged that can be compared with few in the history of American cinema.