Killers Of The Flower Moon
Scorsese’s latest film masterclass
Martin Scorsese’s last two films were both unsuccessful, commercially speaking. “Silence” was a flop, having gained just 25 million dollars while having a 50 million budget, and “The Irishman” cost 200 million to make, and even if it wasn’t confirmed, I think we all knew it would flop. But why make these movies then? What is the point of making films that nobody’s going to watch? I have no clue. But I do know that both films I mentioned are masterpieces to me, and I don’t intend to take this statement back. Those films are a perfect summary of Scorsese’s greatest themes, the ones that are predominant in his filmography: religion and violence (“The Irishman” is also a fabulous reflection on the passage of time and the arrival of senility in people’s hearts and minds). These two are the “main characters” of Scorsese’s latest picture “Killers Of The Flower Moon”. And while it’s way too early to use the term “masterpiece” I just want to say one thing. It’s a great f*****g movie.
Violence
In “Killers of the Flower Moon” Scorsese destroys his idea of Cinema while never abandoning it completely. The epic nature of all his biggest installments isn’t found here and a new kind of narration evolves instead. This is completely new territory explored in a Scorsese movie. The story of the Osage is being told from a new point of view, not from Americans but from Americans that live in Osage Nation, a huge difference from the book that inspired the film. Scorsese depicts violence in a way he hasn’t attempted before. There is no epic nature in these acts, there is no suspense in any of the scenes where violence is being manifested. The only things that can be seen are humans and their idiocracy.
I was really impressed by what I felt at the end of the picture because the absence of “violent violence” doesn’t really make you feel pain or anger related to what the Osage people are going through but at the end of the movie you realize what you have witnessed and you go “holy shit”. The tragedy of the Osage people only hits effectively at the end of the picture. And it hits hard.
In my opinion, the biggest praise of the movie is the depiction of the violence that occurred in those unfortunate events. Violence. Just violence and nothing else, violence spoiled from every moral value, violence in its purest form, violence as a form of hate, violence as it always has been but only been depicted a few times: useless.
Religion
Religion has always been an important theme in Scorsese’s life and filmography. What really fascinates me about Scorsese’s approach to religion is that he doesn’t impose it on others. He allows himself to doubt the existence of God and he doesn’t hide from God because he doesn’t fear him. Scorsese doesn’t worship God, he speaks to him. This is reflected in all his movies and the characters in those movies. “Killers of the Flower Moon” does that too. Every white man in the film is a Christian. They all have committed horrific acts. But they are Christians and Scorsese doesn’t try to hide that. Once again the great American director puts on screen another act of his inner dialogue with God.
The Osage religion and culture are depicted as well. I am no expert on the matter but from what I saw online I think that Scorsese and his crew nailed it. The whole picture exudes Osage tradition and there never is a moment for the public to doubt that. The atmosphere that is created makes the spectator immerse even more in the story. I’m sorry if I only could make this little paragraph about the Osage culture and traditions but as I’ve already written before, I am no expert, and doing approximated research just to write unexact facts is not something I’m looking forward to.
Length
One of the biggest complaints the movie received was related to its length. A three-and-a-half-hour slow-paced film about the killing of Osage people? Personally speaking, the three-and-a-half-hours of “The Irishman” didn’t bother me at all but I acknowledge that the massive length and the slow pace of a movie can trouble a huge portion of the audience. So, what about this one? If slow-paced stories aren't for you then go see something else because this isn’t for you. “Killers of the Flower Moon” doesn’t have that much of a frenetic pace and it takes its time to narrate the story of the massacre of the Osage people. So, if length isn’t a problem with you then you shouldn’t have much trouble watching the movie. I think that the decision to make the movie have a slow pace is to accentuate even more the lack of epicness, a concept that is fundamental throughout the whole picture. But there’s one thing that bothered me a little bit: dialogues.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way in hell that Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese could’ve messed up any of the dialogue in the film, what makes me raise my eyebrows is how some of the dialogue was handled. There are a lot of long scenes where there’s one character just talking, with the same framing throughout the whole monologue. This is my only complaint about the movie, I think that maybe editing out some dialogue and changing shots throughout the previously cited monologues could’ve made the movie a little bit more dynamic. But to be honest, this isn’t much of a criticism, it’s just a personal preference of mine.
I hope you guys enjoyed my takes on “Killers of the Flower Moon”, please note that this article is not meant to be intended as a review of the latter. A huge thanks to everyone that was kind enough to read the whole thing. Please go see “Killers of the Flower Moon” in cinemas. It’s the only way to support the Art of Cinema and to support one of the greatest directors of all time. Please don’t let this kind of Cinema die. In a world where entertainment and culture don’t come together anymore, this is more important than ever.
