Killers of the Flower Moon
A star-studded cast, a legendary director, and a story so intricate it takes three and a half hours to tell. Martin Scorsese’s new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, promises a lot, and it absolutely delivers.
The film is based on the eponymous book which tells the true story of the Osage Nation. A Midwestern Native American tribe, the Osage eventually settled in Oklahoma, where – as luck would have it – the land was rich in oil. Owning the mineral rights on their land, many Osage natives became wealthy, but their luck would soon turn as unscrupulous businessmen tried to profit off them. The film focuses on the so-called ‘Reign of Terror’ of the 1920s, when many of the Osage saw their headrights taken away through legal loopholes and, more heinously, murder.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a down-in-the-dumps WWI veteran with a perpetual frown and little to look forward to in life. That is until his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), self-proclaimed ‘King of the Osage Hills’, proposes a business opportunity. Long-time friend and sponsor of the reservation, Hale points out the benefits of marrying into Mollie’s (Lily Gladstone) wealthy Osage family. But the fewer descendants in the family, the more money there is to go around for the Hales… the conclusion is, as Imperial professors would say, trivial.
The three leads all do a fantastic job of depicting the intricate interpersonal relationships and power dynamics on the reservation. DiCaprio is believable as the adrift young man who falls deeper and deeper into corruption, raising interesting questions about the true nature of evil. The real scene-stealer for me was Lily Gladstone, quietly observing the horrors around her and finding herself in an inescapable bind. But what truly strikes the viewer is subverting the expectations for a story set in the ‘Roaring 20s’. Instead of the glamorous community of white party-goers that you would expect from that era, the upper class in Killers of the Flower Moon is made up of the Indian Council, a group of tribal chiefs, elders, and family heads speaking out for the needs of the Native community. As local and state sheriffs turn a blind eye to the murders of the rich Osage, the Indian Council reaches out to the newly-founded Federal Bureau of Investigation, led by J. Edgar Hoover, to finally crack the case.
As you can probably tell by now, this is a story of corruption, betrayal, greed, race, family, and, strangely, even love. There is so much to unpack and explore that I would be tempted to suggest it would have been better suited as a four-part mini-series, to allow the viewer some breathing room between the intertwining intrigues. Nonetheless, the script is expertly crafted and never feels like it drags on for too long. Despite its behemothic length, the film manages to keep your attention throughout, in large part thanks to the incredible directorial work. I would call Killers of the Flower Moon a veritable Hollywood classic: the perfect storm of great actors and a great story. Go watch it now, or for the sake of your bladder, wait until it comes to streaming; it’s produced by Apple TV+.
