Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Movie Review: Killers of the Flower Moon

 Movie Number 36 of 2023

The Movie: Killers of the Flower Moon

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 4

Martin Scorsese is a genius. There, I've said it. And sure, the 81-year-old director, writer and producer has had a lifetime to perfect his craft, but Killers of the Flower Moon shows Scorsese at his best. The acting, the direction, the screenplay, the cinematography are all top-notch. It also tells a very important story, one which not many people will have heard of, and to great effect. 


Before I give this film the once over, I have to warn anybody looking at going to see this of two things. Firstly, it is a bit grizzly in places. Thankfully these scenes are short, sharp and used in a non-gratuitous way. The second is that this film is over three and a half hours long. The time goes quickly, but this isn't a film you go to for a quick pick me up. It's long, involved, confronting and a bit of a slog in places - but it's very worthwhile. It was unfortunately made to feel a bit longer by the people next to me talking in loud voices intermittently. I moved seats about halfway through, giving up in disgust. 

Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of the Osage people. Rotten Tomatoes.com describes this as, "Based on David Grann's broadly lauded best-selling book, "Killers of the Flower Moon" is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror."

And brutal it is. We watch as Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) comes back from World War One to work for his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), who is the overseer and local businessman who has his fingers in many pies. In the background, over time, many of the Osage tribe, who have negotiated oil rights and gained much wealth from this. However, with the money, the Osage have no power. The whites are taking huge advantage of the tribe, not allowing them to spend their money, marrying to take their rights away, performing large scale insurance fraud. It's the wild west at its worst. 

Ernest, after starting up as a chauffeur in the town, meets and marries Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a daughter of one of the prominent first nations families, and with her mother and sisters, has access to a lot of money - even if she has to ask her protector to use the funds. Mollie is not in the best of health. Of her sisters, they have all made questionable marriages to white men, and all are dead by the halfway mark in the film. 

Of the obvious murders, none are investigated until Mollie begs some outside assistance from the President to send the F.B.I. This story takes up the last hour of the film.  

This has everything you expect from a Scorsese film. DiCaprio, De Nero and Gladstone put in Oscar-worthy performances. What's surprising is seeing DiCaprio play a man who is almost simple. Ernest Burkhart is not so much simple, but gullible, doing the bidding of his uncle, Bill 'King' Hale. Lily Gladtone's understated performance as Mollie, a woman of few words is incredible. She holds the film brilliantly as her family are busy dying around her. 

There are some fantastic cameos near the end. Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow turn up in the courtroom scenes near the end. The First Nations cast are also inspiring. 

This is also a treat for the eyes. The Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography and Thelma Schoonmacher's editing make this a visual feast, showing the rolling hills and barren nature of Osage County to great effect. The last few minutes, shown as a radio play, with a cameo by Scorsese is also effective. 

It has also been noted in reviews that Scorsese ensured the involvement of the Osage people throughout production. This film is telling an important story. It does not feel in any way exploitative. 

This won't be for everybody. The film's length seems oppressive. But Killers of the Flower Moon is really worth watching - it's too important to miss, even if it is to see how White Man's greed, corruption and cruelty can decimate a nation. 

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