Gates of Heaven (1978)

Director:

Errol Morris

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there.

Plot Keywords:

Pet | Pet Cemetery | Death | California | Napa Valley

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Lucille Billingsley	...	Herself
Zella Graham	...	Herself
Cal Harberts	...	Himself
Dan Harberts	...	Himself
Phil Harberts	...	Himself
Scottie Harberts	...	Himself
Mike Koewler	...	Himself
Floyd McClure	...	Himself
Ed Quye	...	Himself
Florence Rasmussen	...	Herself

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park, Petaluma, California, USA

Company:

Gates of Heaven

Trivia:

German film director Werner Herzog had made a bet with fledgling director (and current film student) Errol Morris that if Morris made a film about pet cemeteries, Herzog would eat his shoe. Morris went on to make this film, so Herzog kept his promise. The meal is documented in the film Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980).

Quotes:

Pet cemetery investor: Death is for the living and not for the dead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Painful and unforgettable, like a car wreck

This is the movie over which Werner Herzog ate his footwear.

The story goes that Errol Morris had no money to finance a film and Herzog's advice to him was to do it anyway. (Herzog is not known for his restraint, fiscal and otherwise.) Morris hadn't made a film before and had no options for financing. Herzog promised him that if Morris indeed made a film, Herzog would come to the premiere and eat his shoe.

As they say, the rest is history. Herzog flew in from Germany for the California premiere carrying the same shoes he had on when he made the promise. He boiled them with vegetables and stood in front of the audience as the film was being readied and, as good as his word, ate one entire shoe, clipping off bits with metal shears. He did leave the soles and the eyelets.

Gates of Heaven is a one-camera job, lots of nice stationary shots, some interminable interview footage with owners of pet cemeteries and developers looking to make a quick dollar out of lonely-hearts' grief and one too honest renderer whose willingness to talk casts him in a rather bad light. About ten minutes in you begin to wish that Morris had earlier discovered Philip Glass, as he would for The Thin Blue Line, to help this quirky story along. It shows little of the promise that would be fulfilled in Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control; but for all that, Morris has a style right from the outset, and what's lacking in technical expertise is compensated for by his shrewd eye for human nature. It sticks with you. The Morris catalog would be incomplete without it. It's a good companion rental to balance out the emptiness of a Judge Dredd or Last Man Standing.