Movie Review: Scorsese's Epic 'Killers Of The Flower Moon' Is Sweeping Tale Of Greed, Richly Told
Martin Scorsese films tend to have a lot of fast talk and fast action, often featuring bad guys trying to get what they want. Or sometimes it's just because the CEO has too much work.
But in Killers of the Flower Moon, everything seems to slow down, especially when the camera focuses on Lily Gladstone. As Molly, the Osage woman at the center of a true story of greed and betrayal on a large and intimate scale, Gladstone is the quiet, powerful center: she takes her time, lets her eyes do the work, and is not afraid of silence.
It's a beautifully paced performance, made all the more impressive by the fact that Gladstone shares the screen with two of our most famous actors. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro did an incredible job with their legendary director, appearing together for the first time in 30 years. But Gladstone, in a rare Scorsese film with a female character, is the emotional key here, and it's her face that sticks in our minds.
Based on David Grenn's detective novel set in 1920s Oklahoma Among the Osage, The Killers marks a change in another way for the 80-year-old director. This was his first western, a genre he had always wanted to explore, although it was a Scorsese western, with its troubled world of heroes and villains. And in telling this Osage story, he focuses on a people he has never represented before, who is deeply aware of the appreciation of his own experiences and his own rituals, beliefs and customs.
It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that Scorsese brings his abundant artistic resources to bear on the cause, along with his brilliant cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and inspiring production designer Jack Fisk. Together in Oklahoma, they created an oil boomtown of great precision, detail and passion.
It's no surprise that it takes Scorsese three and a half hours (albeit three minutes less than The Irishman) to tell his story. This may be debatable, but it's hard to argue that such an important story – chronicling a dark chapter in American history and a shocking true crime tale wrapped in a tense love story – isn't worth pursuing. the length includes boats on each floor. And with some scenes (a stormy wedding on the prairie or a dance party on the city's bustling main street) you feel like you could have stayed longer.
We begin with a late 19th century ceremony, one of many depictions of Osage spiritual life. Then, in an unforgettable image, you hear a hissing from the ground: oil comes out of the ground, which should have no value.
Thanks to this discovery, as we learn in a fantastic prologue using silent film posters, the Osage family became very rich. Yet they were deemed “incompetent” and appointed white “trustees” to control their assets. Then we meet Molly, who is struggling to find money to pay her medical bills.
Meanwhile, Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), a World War I veteran who likes women and elegance but has no money or talent, gets off the train. Maybe your uncle will help you. William Hale (De Niro) is a farmer, but more like the king of the land (actually King is his nickname), a white man who speaks the Osage language and calls himself his best friend.
But it's clear from the start that Hale has evil motives, and De Niro is a man who oozes evil from every pore, like this Godfather figure (he commits crimes, and they are organized). Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth depart from Grenn's book, which makes us wonder about Hale's motives. He asks for money for the Osage and tells Ernest that if he marries Molly, even the less intelligent Ernest can handle it.
Molly can do it too. Confident but far from naive, she knows that Ernest covets her wealth, but love grows between them and their beautiful wedding is a happy event.
But then the Osages start dying one by one in suspicious ways, including, eventually, Molly's sister and mother. As for Ernest, he was no angel and spent his time stealing and gambling. But are you doing more? DiCaprio's mouth becomes sore as he becomes increasingly torn between his loyalty to his marriage and his loyalty to his uncle.
Eventually, federal agent Tom White (Jesse Plemons, a fine actor) arrives, working for J. Edgar Hoover in what would become the FBI. (It's White who features most prominently in Granny's Book, and indeed DiCaprio should have played her at some point.) This final act leads to a courtroom scene that perhaps only Scorsese could have pulled off. and a menacing De Niro accompanied by a swaggering Brendan Fraser and a ravenous John Lithgow.
It's true, the large supporting cast includes countless faces you may recognize, as well as cameos from several musicians and dozens of Osage actors in key roles. Scorsese's late friend Robbie Robertson wrote the impressive score.
We won't spoil the clever epilogue, in which Scorsese ties up the narrative pieces with another important cameo. But the fact that this denouement comes after, oh, 200 minutes of expertly staged suspense, is just another sign that in the final years of his career, Scorsese raised the bar, yes, in terms of scale, but also in terms of ambition.
He calls his work a contribution to the Osage and other indigenous peoples. It also feels like an offering to film fans, allowing us to watch the master continually try, however improbably, to learn. Let this continue, for him and for us.
Killers of Flower Moon, an AppleTV+ release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association "for violence, some horrific images and language." Duration: 206 minutes. Four stars out of four.
