Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
We are late to the party with Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023). But the FBI was late addressing what was happening to the Osage people, so we beg your pardon.
“When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one – until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.”
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese, David Grann
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Tantoo Cardinal, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, Jesse Plemons, Scott Shepherd
Release Date: October 20, 2023
IMDB
We are late to the party with Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023). But the FBI was late addressing what was happening to the Osage people, so we beg your pardon.
Killers Of The Flower Moon takes place in 1920s Oklahoma on Osage Nation land. Oil is discovered and the local Osage families begin striking it rich. There is a careful balance in the community between the Native Americans and the hungry traditional American predators. At the center of that scale is William Hale (Robert De Niro).
Hale’s nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from war and falls in love with Osage member Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone). While Ernest is trying to understand the culture of his new home, older members of the community can’t help but notice a disturbing trend of Osage members being killed off.
Killers Of The Flower Moon shines a bright light on the battle for oil wealth on the Osage Nation Land. Themes of greed, selfishness and carefully planned ruthlessness seep through the story as the audience untwines the characters at the center of the drama. And there is a ticking clock. There are limited Osage members left, and will it be too late for the community by the time the FBI finally arrives to investigate?
Scorsese made a deliberate choice with his interpretation of David Grann’s book. Killers Of The Flower Moon, the film, does not hide who the villain of the story is. Hale is the bad guy. Hale is the embodiment of white greed and persuasiveness. From the audience perspective, there is no mystery to the horror that’s happening to the Osage people. It’s a purposeful choice to highlight the malevolence of the situation and the stupidity of Ernest Burkhart. It’s a purposeful choice to show how the community of Native Americans were victims of a wider umbrella conspiracy and how no one was coming to save them.
With all that being said, the choice takes away from the entertainment value of the movie. The Killers Of The Flower Moon is a 210 minute movie, and yet the film’s potential biggest mystery is solved right from the jump. The narrative lens Scorsese and fellow screenwriter Eric Roth chose pigeon holes the audience into a specific viewing experience. It’s equivalent to being told how to sit on your favorite couch. Could you sit cross-legged and still have an outstanding time watching the movie? Yes, absolutely. But would you like the option to shift your weight, and look at the screen from a different perspective? Yea, that’d be nice.
Scoresee has earned the right to tell a story how he wants. The man has given cinema some of its most iconic characters and themes. It’s readily apparent that Scorsese connected to this story immediately after reading the book, and that instant appreciation led him down a road of a definitive tone. Scorsese felt immense sympathy for the Osage people. Rather than hiding that emotion behind a veil of a who-dun-it conspiracy, The Killers Of The Flower Moon lays it out like a welcome mat, asking you to look directly at it and acknowledge whose story you’re walking into.
The lens of the story is definitive, as is the quality of the film’s craftsmanship. Whether or not one personally enjoys Killers Of The Flower Moon, it’s impossible to deny that the film is made remarkably well. Every ounce of the movie’s $200 million budget is spent in a way to evoke the era and the unique community. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto plays around with colors and a robust production design to staple certain visual snapshots on the viewer’s psyche. Robbie Roberston’s music is steeped deeply in the Osage culture. The simmering chants vibrating under the surface of the story are something many have never heard in a Oscar nominated movie before.
In terms of the performances from Killers Of The Flower Moon, there are the three big ones worth mentioning.
Let’s start off with the hot take. Leonardo DiCaprio gets acted underneath the table in this movie. Dare I say, DiCaprio’s performance as Ernest Burkhart is one of the weaker parts of the movie. There is one scene in the entire three hour-plus movie when DiCaprio’s abilities are at its max, and that’s due in large part to the actor he was sharing the screen with.
Lily Gladstone went from thinking about a career change to getting nominated for an Oscar. How’s that for a circumstance swap? Based on all reports, Scorsese had Gladstone in mind right from the jump and essentially invited her on without the full casting call.
Mollie Burkhart is the emotional fulcrum for Killers Of The Flower Moon and her relationship with Ernest is the thread that tugs at the emotional turmoil for those conflicted about Hales’s mission within the story.
The aforementioned scene where Leo is at his best is when Mollie first invites him into her home for dinner. Ernest is a bumbling fool but Mollie is remarkably patient and her calm smiles speak louder than any words that are spoken. It’s this sequence that proves how Gladstone is going to stand toe-to-toe with her castmates and often rise above them.
Do we think that Lily Gladstone deserved to win the Academy Award? Personally, she placed second on the Stanko’s Stance ballot behind Emma Stone. Two drastically different parts and energy of performances, but both equally effective. Two big things that separate Stone in Poor Things (2023) are the fact that Stone is in a better movie, and Stone is in essentially every single frame. Gladstone, much to Killer Of The Flower Moon’s entertainment deficit, takes a back seat in the latter half of the movie. Sure, she is bedridden and there isn’t a whole lot to do, but she is absent for extended stretches while Ernest and Hale try and get their selfish aspirations together.
Mr. Robert De Niro earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of William Hale. This can be forgotten because Robert Downey Jr. snuffed up all the attention in the Best Supporting Actor category for the entire award season.
The best bit about De Niro’s performance are his interactions with Leonardo DiCaprio. The relationship between Hale and Earnest is one-sided, but the King of the town knows how to phrase everything just right so it seems mutually beneficial.
De Niro’s onscreen chemistry with DiCpario was put through the ringer at times. According to Scorsese in an interview with the The Telegraph, Leo would go off script: “Every now and then, Bob and I would look at each other and roll our eyes a little bit. And we’d tell him: ‘You don’t need that dialogue,’”
Was this just DiCaprio getting into character? Ernest is a character who often talked too much and stuck his foot in his own mouth. Maybe he was just going full Daniel Day Lewis type experience? Leo saw how that worked with Scorsese and Gangs Of New York (2002).
The ending of Killers Of The Flower Moon sees the characters of Ernest, William and Mollie diverging on different paths. Once Tom White (Jesse Plemons) and the FBI enter the fray, the era of Hale’s secretly dominating the dynamic begins to crumble fast. A failed diversion plan from Hale results in a lackey ratting out a few details to the investigating agents. Ernest is then brought in and convinced to turn against his uncle. Hale tries to have his nephew killed after he testifies against him, but it fails. Ernest lives long enough to have Mollie leave him.
In what acts like an epilogue, Scorsese himself appears on the screen as part of a radio drama that begins to dramatically unveil the truth of what happened in the years after the trial. Such a cameo had many people flocking. Scorsese, in one of his last films ever, put the final touches on the story with a personal touch.
For a movie that stretches well past certain viewers’ bathroom break policy, the last act of Killers Of The Flower Moon feels rushed. Jesse Plemons enters the story much later in the picture than one expects, and once he begins flexing his mustached muscle, everything about the film’s resolution begins falling into place very fast. Ernest goes through three major character swings. Hale’s attempts at saving himself are quick snippets rather than being fleshed out. There is little footage White and the FBI investigating the crimes. Or the trail itself.
It makes sense as a style choice from Scorsese because he laid out all the puzzle pieces right from the jump. There was no mystery for the FBI to solve because the audience knows it all already. But this review started with disappointment on the style of the storytelling, and the ending to the story adds an exclamation point to the technique. It was either for you, or not.
In total, Killers Of The Flower Moon was nominated for 10 Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Picture, Best Production Design, and Best Supporting Actor. It won zero awards.
Between this latest project and The Irishman, Scorsese’s last movies have 20 total Oscar nominations and zero wins. Read into that what you will, but that’s a bonkers stat. You need to go back to Hugo (2011) to watch a Scorsese Oscar winning movie. That’s a fun fact for you. Hugo, a five-time Academy Award winner.
Killers Of The Flower Moon is streaming on AppleTV.
STANKO RATING: B
Stanko Excel Lists | Movies, Books, Podcasts. TV Shows
Stanko Letterdbox Account
There is a lot happening in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. One could argue that there is too much going on.
Much maligned as the worst of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible II doesn’t do itself any favors upon rewatch.
MaXXXine (2024) “In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.” Director: Ti WestWriter: Ti WestCast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Halsey, Lily Collins, Kevin Bacon, Bob Cannavale, Michelle…
Stanko's Stance 