Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Considering Martin Scorsese's latest runs to nearly three and a half hours, it seems very harsh (not to mention irritating) that fellow old timer Ridley Scott's upcoming epic, Napoleon, has been cut to three hours for its theatrical release, while Apple TV+ (which also bankrolled Killers of the Flower Moon) gets the four hour cut for 'fans' to stream at home. It says a lot about people's attention span that this is the case; obviously it's more palatable for these idiots to watch things at home, mainly because they can just flick through Instagram for the full four hours. But actually, who are we kidding? The fans who want to watch the full four hour version are the same ones that would go to the cinema to see it, so maybe it's cinemas who are to blame; they might not make as much money with a four hour film clogging up the day's schedule. But of course, we want them to remain open, so.... None of this has much to do with Scorsese's new film however, beyond the inevitable, incredibly boring "but it's three and half hours!" conversations. Based on the horrifying true story and non-fiction book by David Grann, it tells the story of a series of murders of wealthy Osage people in the early 1920's, after large oil deposits had been discovered beneath their land, with the Osage people the legal beneficiaries of the ensuing oil profits. Naturally, for a people that has lived in relative solitude, they're practically invaded by a swarm of white Americans, desperate for a share of the wealth; and the man driving this foreign occupation is William King Hale (Robert De Niro). For increasingly handsome profits, he slowly becomes part of the furniture in this Oklahoma reservation, bestowing gifts upon the Osage people as he thrives from the fortunes of others and becomes arguably the most important person in the town. When Hale's nephew, Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrives, fresh from World War I in 1919, Hale indoctrinates him into his mob, setting Ernest to work holding Osage people at gunpoint under the safety of masks, and robbing them of their jewellery, with the help of Ernest's brother Byron who has also been there for years. Ernest also meets, and eventually marries, Molly (Lily Gladstone) an Osage woman of considerable wealth whose family members slowly start to die off thanks to a mysterious illness. All these things eventually lead to the Bureau of Investigation (soon to become the FBI) sending an agent (Jesse Plemons) to investigate the increasing number of deaths. Scorsese does what he does best in Killers of the Flower Moon, creating a world in which you become fully immersed, especially in the stunning town, in which several of the structures were built from scratch. The film rarely leaves the settlement, giving you the feel of being a part of everything that's happening, whilst you scratch your head at the fact that it took so long for anybody to smell a rat. What Hale and his mob slowly perform is truly horrific; whilst Ernest (terrifically sold by DiCaprio) genuinely seems to love his wife, everything he does is under the blanket of what Hale wants done, and it's Hale of course who initially suggests their accouplement. For all intents and purposes, Killers of the Flower Moon is another Scorsese mob movie, and generally this is where he's in his comfort zone (Mean Streets [1973], Goodfellas [1990], Casino [1995]). However, what's impressive about this picture is the way he weaves the mob movie around a very humanistic and family tale, that also offers much consideration to religion and ceremony. Indeed, the opening sequence to Killers of the Flower Moon features Osage elders burying a ceremonial pipe, mourning their descendants' assimilation into white American society, a segment that strongly brings to mind Scorsese's often overlooked passion project, Silence (2016). Another key strength of the film lies in the performances. De Niro thankfully seems to have shaken off his loss of brain cells that led to Dirty Grandpa (2016), having followed that by a serious return to form in both an effective cameo in Joker (2019), in which he retraced Scorsese's own King of Comedy (1982), before bringing it all back to where it began for him in Scorsese's last film, The Irishman (2019). DiCaprio is his usual reliable self in a very, very good performance as Ernest, truly convincing you of his struggle to surpass the burden of his Uncle whilst trying to make sense of his true feelings towards his wife. But the real star here, (despite not getting the screen time she perhaps deserves) is Lily Gladstone as Molly. From the first moment we see her as Ernest offers her a lift home (a course of action suggested by Hale, of course) her demeanor is encapsulating; initially headstrong and confident, discarding Ernest at first but slowly being charmed by both his stupidity and persistence, before gradually her happiness and strength decline as circumstances veer out of her control. Gladstone's facial flourishes and touches make you wonder what exactly is going on inside her head, and that's something that grips you throughout the film. At times you wonder why it is she remains with Ernest with events unfolding, especially as her suspicions of Hale increase, but Hale's own horrendous actions admittedly make it dangerous to do anything about it. Whilst this does fall short of being the masterpiece many have claimed, it's nevertheless another towering achievement from the Godfather of the mob movie. Its shortcomings lie in the short shrift given to secondary characters; many are called upon repeatedly through the film to do various nefarious deeds for Hale, without us ever really appreciating their origins-something that Goodfellas, for instance, exemplified. Perhaps this is the point the film is making; these characters aren't important to Hale whatsoever, just pawns to be exploited, but in this respect focus shifts once again to him in the now, and a more fleshed out backstory to how exactly Hale got to where he is embodying himself in the Osage people would have been welcomed. Plemons as well is underused, it's around two hours before he finally hits the screens and even then it's a fairly standard role for him to fill, although as is to be expected from Plemons, he performs it with aplomb. Killers of the Flower Moon is an engrossing piece of work, a fascinating and terrifying historical tale, and Scorsese admirably tells much of it from the Osage point of view, having spent a a huge amount of time with the Osage people themselves, before and during filming, absorbing himself in the culture (DiCaprio and De Niro also mastered the Osage language to shoot the film). So, whilst it doesn't perhaps quite hit the heights of his best work, it's certainly not to be missed on the big screen, and once more Scorsese leaves us praying that he doesn't retire from film making any time soon. 8.2/10