STORY
Set in the 1920s Oklahoma, Mollie Kyle, a member of the Osage Nation, marries in the White Catholic family of William Hale to his nephew Ernest Burkhart, a WWI veteran who recently moved back to the state. William Hale is a reserve deputy sheriff for Fairfax who built a fortune by stealing the Osage people’s wealth through insurance fraud. With the marriage follows a series of murders of her family and the members of the Osage Nation. Mollie faces a difficult time in seeking justice as she raises her doubts about William Hale.
INTRODUCTION
‘Killers of the Flower Moon‘ is based on David Gran‘s non-fiction novel by the same title. Osage Nation is one of the old American tribes of the Great Plains. In the 19th century, these people were forced to relinquish most of their remaining ancestral homelands and were relocated to Pawhuska, Oklahoma. In the early 20th century, the oil was discovered on their land and they had retained mineral rights on their reservation. So that made them rich. Now what kind of Americans will not like these Native Americans becoming rich? Of course, White Americans. I am not offending at all, this is one of the tragic chapters of the American history.
So what William Hale does with them is mastermind a heinous spate of killings with the help of his nephews Ernest and Byron by targeting wealthy Osage people including Mollie’s family. This film indicates that the American men were marrying wealthy Osage women for money.
A DIRECTOR EFFORT
It is a 3 hours and 28 minutes film (206 minutes) making it one of the longest films ever made in the modern age of the American film industry. Plus, the film is deep slow so it is painfully a killer. But if you go with the flow and understand the artistic image of the film, it will not trouble you.
Martin Scorsese returns on the director chair. So there is no question about the craft and the visual artistry that still holds the distinction about shooting the best out of the story.
Take a look at the raw attraction of a busy Oklahoma street where Ernest meets Mollie the first time. Scorsese glimpses many kinds of business runs and hence shooting it so meticulous. Was there a need? After all, the whole shot was about Ernest meeting Molly, that is it. But if you understand the heart of the drama, all these forces attracts and gives you a wonderful image of one cinematic catch rolling in the camera.
Scorsese film-making philosophy always gives value to classic zooming shots on the characters. It is the artistic way of engaging the audience into a visual attraction like Ernest coming out of train. A one-shot of Hale’s household before Lizzie sees an owl. Or Ernest and Mollie setting up to bed only to be disturbed by a shocking bomb blast nearby. A sudden outburst in the court hall when Hale’s attorney demands to confer privately with Ernest. These are a few examples in the film that set the precise tone for dramatizing a shot.
Even after 50 years, Scorsese and Spielberg are the only two directors whose old-school film-making still maintains that directional substance and the finest craft work.
RADIO DRAMA SCENE
The story was concluding at much anticipation until some radio drama at a theater chose to reveal the aftermath. There can be several theories and opinions about the film concluding with this scene instead of those characters. The first thing is, the story would have never ended with whatever fate Ernest, Hale, and Mollie met. Secondly, if the fate of the three was assumed to depict in the film, would have taken an extra hour for sure. And the film had already passed three and a half hours. So did the film stretch way too long to not give a better conclusion?
ROTH, ROBBIE & SCHOONMAKER
To add the value of complimenting this film, I feel it is important to mention a few names whose contribution excelled the film. If Eric Roth is screenwriting a film, you must know that he has done a huge favor on those who are expecting to watch a quality film. You can observe a tremendous balance in the writing of three parts of the story.
One of the aspects of Scorsese films that augments the continuity of the story is the background score. And Robbie Robertson once again has been a pillar to a Scorsese film but he did this favor for Scorsese the last time because before the release of the film, Robbie Robertson passed away. There are pieces in the film that will tune your eardrums. I liked Robbie’s music when the Osage people discover oil and also when Hale burns down his own ranch.
But the one technical quality that always impresses me about a Scorsese film including this, is the editing job. Thelma Schoonmaker is one of the major reasons of Scorsese legacy whose almost entire editing career is built on Scorsese films and also most of Scorsese’s films are edited by her.
I don’t know how big was ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ if the final cut was 3 hours and 28 minutes. So it is more difficult to edit the lengthy films because all those scenes must be meaningful for the audience before it bores them and ignite criticism. Hardly do I believe the film wasted any resource. Like I wrote before, the film to me was slow but it didn’t trouble because I went with the flow of the film.
To mention a few, observe the court scene, or when Anna fights Byron, or when Ernest goes out to check which house was bombed.
DE NIRO/DICAPRIO
Easily the most anticipated factor about the film is the first collaboration of Martin Scorsese’s two favorite lead actors in 30 years, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. This was DiCaprio’s sixth film with Scorsese and De Niro’s tenth. But both actors never worked together in a feature film directed by Scorsese.
It was worth a wait as both were terrific in their roles. Their togetherness was not exaggerated but respectfully stuck to the narrative and leveled their roles. DiCaprio was Hale’s nephew Ernest who was stuck in the line of fire melting in the flames of injustice between Hale’s fraudulent cruelty and Mollie’s slavery to time. Almost every of their conversations were interesting and the shots were well written be it their argument after Roan’s killing, or Hale asking Ernest to sign, or when Ernest informs Hale that he will testify, or Hale beating Ernest at the lodge, and many more.
LILY GLADSTONE
This is my first experience of watching Lily Gladstone and I don’t believe she has worked that often. She is still new to the industry. As far as her performance is concerned, she did her role pretty well without a doubt but it wasn’t an award-winning presser at all. She was in intense race for Best Actress with Emma Stone for ‘Poor Things‘ in almost all award functions. I am yet to watch Poor Things but I didn’t find Lily’s performance as a winner.
Perhaps, the media companies, critics, and journalists have been very sympathetic towards her performance due to what the character suffered and went through extremely difficult times. Plus, people love interesting life and career stories from a non-White background. So that made a strong case and made her the first Native American to be nominated for the Best Actress at the Oscar.
CLOSING REMARKS
I don’t think if Scorsese can make a bad film but for a director like him, if I opine that ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ cannot be considered one of his finest works or say not his top 10 film at all, I assume I am not insulting him at all. That is the magnitude of a bar he has set for himself from the others. A strong casting and excellent technical work.
With a story involving or about Native Americans, it truly is the best drama film in years or perhaps this decade. A tragic drama and a sorry-tale about a sickening greed and killing. A brave subject to raise, the Native American injustice, a dark chapter of the old America.
RATING 8.6/10
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Sami Naik | Film Critic 