Hacker Cinema
Gates of Heaven
1978 · Film · documentary · 83 min
Directed by Errol Morris
A showcase of workers in the animal burial industry while dealing with heavier existential questions regarding mortality and the afterlife. Floyd 'Mac' McClure believes that a graceful burial is as important for pets as it is for people; he chronicles his struggles to keep his niche business afloat, and interviews several of his associates and one of his competitors, the manager of a rendering plant.
9 positive2 neutralfrom 11 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
"Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" the 1979 documentary features that old wager with Eroll Morris.
Herzog wagers that if his colleague produces "Gates of Heaven," Werner would eat his leather boot.
Gates of Heaven (1978)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077598/?ref_=ext_shr
One of my favorite filmmakers and a really interesting interview. Especially about the Rashomon movie, I never really thought about it in that manner. His early films like Gates of Heaven, Vernon, Florida, and The Thin Blue Line are some of my favorites ever.
https://www.criterion.com/search#stq=errol+morris
Some of the films recommended in this thread..
- The Nice Guys
- I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Don't Worry
- He Won't Get Far on Foot
- The Favourite (2018)
- Druk (2020)
- Amélie
- The Lobster
- Turist (2014)
- Parasite
- El Hoyo (The Platform)
- Quo Vadis
- Aida?
- 200 Meters
- Luzzu
- El robo del siglo (The Heist of the Century)
- Knives Out
- Us
- Get Out
- "Tokyo Story" (1953, Yasujirō Ozu)
- Aleksei German's Hard to be A God
- Edward Yang's A Better Summer's Day
- Maren Ade's Toni Erdman
- Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love
- Wings of Desire
- Do the Right Thing
- Drugstore Cowboy
- Gates of Heaven
- Beauty and the Beast
- Life Is Sweet
Roger Ebert wrote an essay [0] in 1992 reflecting on his career as a critic. He writes
>In the past 25 years I have probably seen 10,000 movies and reviewed 6,000 of them. I have forgotten most of those films, I hope, but I remember those worth remembering, and they are all on the same shelf in my mind.
Overall, he seems never to have lost the joy of watching movies. A relevant quote:
>When you go to the movies every day, it sometimes seems as if the movies are more mediocre than ever, more craven and cowardly, more skillfully manufactured to pander to the lowest tastes, instead of educating them. Then you see something absolutely miraculous. Something like "Wings of Desire," or "Do the Right Thing," or "Drugstore Cowboy," or "Gates of Heaven," or "Beauty and the Beast," or "Life Is Sweet," and on your way home through the White Hen Pantry you look distracted, as if you had just experienced some kind of a vision.
[0]: https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/reflections-after-25-years-at-the-movies
Werner Herzog ate his shoe:
"In 1979, Les Blank took a detour to film German filmmaker Werner Herzog honoring a vow he made to Errol Morris that he (Herzog) would eat his shoe if Morris ever actually made one of his films he was forever talking about. Stung to action, Morris directed Gates of Heaven and Herzog, true to his word, returned to Berkeley to consume one of his desert boots at the UC Theater. Blank's film documents Herzog's strongly expressed belief that people must have the gutts to attempt what they dream of."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGcWTIWYDMQ (just the lead-up..)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kii4jQ7XHuY (shoe-eating..)
Gee, just 5 minutes ago I was thinking on how Werner Herzog bet Errol Morris that Morris wouldn't finish the documentary he'd started, or Herzog would eat his shoe. Now that is a friend, and a great motivating bet. And I loved Gates of Heaven.
"After a few unproductive months, he happened to read a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle that read, "450 Dead Pets Going To Napa Valley". Morris left for Napa Valley and began working on the film that would become his first feature, Gates of Heaven, which premiered in 1978. Herzog had said he would eat his shoe if Morris completed the documentary. After the film premiered, Herzog publicly followed through on the bet by cooking and eating his shoe, which was documented in the short film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe by Les Blank. ...Critic Roger Ebert was and remained a champion of the film, including it on his all-time top ten best films list."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errol_Morris
I think this is referring to his list of "Movies You Must See Before You Die". On that note, I should mention "Gates of Heaven", which is part of that list. A compelling documentary on animal cemeteries, by Errol Morris.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-gates-of-heaven-1978
Tangentially related: one of the oddest, most touching, most fascinating documentaries I've seen is Gates of Heaven by Errol Morris [0], a film about pet burial practices. Certainly worth a watch if you find this interesting!
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Heaven
I loved Vernon, Florida. It's the first documentary I saw by Errol Morris, saw it completely by accident on TV & was so captivated I had to look up what it was and who directed it. I also loved Gates Of Heaven & The Unknown Known, but I think Vernon, Florida is still my favorite.
I love Errol Morris's documentaries (the maker of The Fog of War). You might want to check out Gates of Heaven. It's one of my favorite documentaries. It's about the owners of 2 pet cemetaries and is one of the most profound movies I've ever seen. Also, the cinematography in it is amazing.
Errol Morris said that the way he gets such amazingly candid confessions out of people is that he asks a question, the interviewee answers it, then Errol Morris just sits there. The interviewee feels the need to fill the silence and that's where the gold comes out.