BadFellas, my review of the film version of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON.
I’d always thought that Martin Scorsese should make a western, a genre that has had a big influence on his own film making, and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is probably as close as we will ever get to a film in that unique American genre. Based on the non-fiction book by David Grann, which is an account of a murder conspiracy on the Osage reservation in early 1920s Oklahoma, it is easy to see why this story drew Scorsese to it, for it is another tale of greedy and violent men determined to get away with as much as they can, and the law and morality be damned. But it should be said upfront, KILLERS is not a story with the propulsive energy and vicarious bad guy thrills of GOODFELLAS and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, but a somber and brutal look at human nature at its worst, centered on a couple of characters lacking any redeeming charm. What Scorsese does in KILLERS that he didn’t do in those other two films is give space and attention to the victims of his protagonists’ crimes, in this case it the members of the Osage tribe, who were the benefits of sudden and tremendous wealth when oil was discovered on their tribal lands. As a result, there was a determined effort by a group of local Whites to pry that wealth away from them, and over the course of a three and a half hour running time, we see repeated attempts at fraud and outright murder to achieve this end, culminating when the nascent Bureau of Investigation (soon to have Federal added to its name) stepped in and achieved some measure of justice by exposing the villains and their conspiracy.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON reunites Scorsese with two of his favorite collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a WWI veteran who returns to his native Oklahoma after the war and becomes a willing participant in a scheme by his wealthy rancher uncle, William “King” Hale to separate their Osage neighbors from their newfound wealth. Hale is played by De Niro as the ultimate hypocrite, who presents himself as a friend to the Osage and a pious pillar of the community, all the while orchestrating schemes to have relatives and associates marry Osage women in order to poison them and inherit their oil rights, along with hiring criminals to simply use a gun whenever that is more convenient. In contrast to these two is Lily Gladstone as Mollie, the Osage woman whom Ernest marries, through her we see the suffering visited on her people. It’s a tremendous performance, done often without benefit of a lot of dialogue or showy dramatics, and a contrast to her two male co-stars. DiCaprio’s Ernest is a weak man without a moral compass, and his crimes are made worse because we feel he genuinely had affection for his Osage wife, but nevertheless slowly poisoned her anyway with doctored insulin. DiCaprio affects a “dense face” expression throughout the film to convey Ernest’s character that some viewers might consider an example of “Big Acting.” We’ve heard De Niro’s Southern accent before, and it is interesting to contrast it, along with DiCaprio’s as well, with that of Jesse Plemons, who plays the chief Bureau investigator, who actually hails from Dallas, Texas. It helps that Scorsese cast Gene Jones and Barry Corbin, both of whom were in the Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, in small parts. I actually think Corbin would have made a better “King” Hale than De Niro, but if you can get one of the greatest working actors alive, you go with him. Brendan Fraser turns up as a loud mouth huckster lawyer, and despite some who said it felt like he was still playing his character from THE WHALE, I think he plays the part perfectly. John Lithgow appears as a prosecutor, and the supporting roles are well cast with actors sporting very distinctive faces, both Osage and White, who look like they could have just stepped out of an old photo from the time.
I do think this film is overlong, at a minimum, 45 minutes could have been cut from the running time. I think the pacing suffers because of the length, but to its credit, the final third of the film is its strongest. The screenplay by Scorsese and Eric Roth certainly could have used some tightening up. The cinematography is awesome, and shooting on location in Oklahoma makes the land itself a distinctive character right along with the actors. Nobody is a better visual storyteller than Scorsese. He’s not afraid to steal from himself, as several scenes are staged like similar ones in GOODFELLAS.
Is KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON on par with RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS, CASINO, or THE DEPARTED? I would say no, the story is too sprawling, and many will find it too grim. There is his patented violence, but here it little resembles the gleeful viciousness of the Italian or Irish Mobs, but I think he does a great job of conveying the meanness and brutality that was always simmering under the surface in rural America—showing just what some would try in a small town. And I think the film stands as a powerful statement on human nature and its capacity for avarice and the violence it inspires. And whatever the merits of the film, it is a powerful history lesson.
Though some were thrown off by the final scene, where the ultimate fates of the principles are revealed, which is usually done with a few terse words on the screen and a photograph, I give Scorsese credit for really doing something different. Having the director himself step up and deliver the final word, is a great note to end on.
And whatever money Apple, Scorsese and the rest, make from this film, some of it should find its way back to the Osage Nation at Fairfax, Oklahoma. They’ve earned it.
My book, BIG CRIMSON 1: THERE'S A NEW VAMPIRE IN TOWN, can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3GsBh2E
and on Smashwords at: https://bit.ly/3kIfrAb
My alternate history novel ALL THE WAY WITH JFK: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF 1964 can be found on Amazon at: http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m
and on Smashwords at: http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH
Visit my Goodreads author's page at:
http://bit.ly/2nxmg
Visit my Amazon author's page at: https://amzn.to/3nK6Yxv
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON reunites Scorsese with two of his favorite collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a WWI veteran who returns to his native Oklahoma after the war and becomes a willing participant in a scheme by his wealthy rancher uncle, William “King” Hale to separate their Osage neighbors from their newfound wealth. Hale is played by De Niro as the ultimate hypocrite, who presents himself as a friend to the Osage and a pious pillar of the community, all the while orchestrating schemes to have relatives and associates marry Osage women in order to poison them and inherit their oil rights, along with hiring criminals to simply use a gun whenever that is more convenient. In contrast to these two is Lily Gladstone as Mollie, the Osage woman whom Ernest marries, through her we see the suffering visited on her people. It’s a tremendous performance, done often without benefit of a lot of dialogue or showy dramatics, and a contrast to her two male co-stars. DiCaprio’s Ernest is a weak man without a moral compass, and his crimes are made worse because we feel he genuinely had affection for his Osage wife, but nevertheless slowly poisoned her anyway with doctored insulin. DiCaprio affects a “dense face” expression throughout the film to convey Ernest’s character that some viewers might consider an example of “Big Acting.” We’ve heard De Niro’s Southern accent before, and it is interesting to contrast it, along with DiCaprio’s as well, with that of Jesse Plemons, who plays the chief Bureau investigator, who actually hails from Dallas, Texas. It helps that Scorsese cast Gene Jones and Barry Corbin, both of whom were in the Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, in small parts. I actually think Corbin would have made a better “King” Hale than De Niro, but if you can get one of the greatest working actors alive, you go with him. Brendan Fraser turns up as a loud mouth huckster lawyer, and despite some who said it felt like he was still playing his character from THE WHALE, I think he plays the part perfectly. John Lithgow appears as a prosecutor, and the supporting roles are well cast with actors sporting very distinctive faces, both Osage and White, who look like they could have just stepped out of an old photo from the time.
I do think this film is overlong, at a minimum, 45 minutes could have been cut from the running time. I think the pacing suffers because of the length, but to its credit, the final third of the film is its strongest. The screenplay by Scorsese and Eric Roth certainly could have used some tightening up. The cinematography is awesome, and shooting on location in Oklahoma makes the land itself a distinctive character right along with the actors. Nobody is a better visual storyteller than Scorsese. He’s not afraid to steal from himself, as several scenes are staged like similar ones in GOODFELLAS.
Is KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON on par with RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS, CASINO, or THE DEPARTED? I would say no, the story is too sprawling, and many will find it too grim. There is his patented violence, but here it little resembles the gleeful viciousness of the Italian or Irish Mobs, but I think he does a great job of conveying the meanness and brutality that was always simmering under the surface in rural America—showing just what some would try in a small town. And I think the film stands as a powerful statement on human nature and its capacity for avarice and the violence it inspires. And whatever the merits of the film, it is a powerful history lesson.
Though some were thrown off by the final scene, where the ultimate fates of the principles are revealed, which is usually done with a few terse words on the screen and a photograph, I give Scorsese credit for really doing something different. Having the director himself step up and deliver the final word, is a great note to end on.
And whatever money Apple, Scorsese and the rest, make from this film, some of it should find its way back to the Osage Nation at Fairfax, Oklahoma. They’ve earned it.
My book, BIG CRIMSON 1: THERE'S A NEW VAMPIRE IN TOWN, can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3GsBh2E
and on Smashwords at: https://bit.ly/3kIfrAb
My alternate history novel ALL THE WAY WITH JFK: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF 1964 can be found on Amazon at: http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m
and on Smashwords at: http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH
Visit my Goodreads author's page at:
http://bit.ly/2nxmg
Visit my Amazon author's page at: https://amzn.to/3nK6Yxv
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