The land is filled with Black Gold, and while it is never explicitly stated the white man cannot allow this to continue. It is a tale as old of time. Fragile egos of white men who cannot see themselves without power, especially when controlled by native Americans. Killers of the Flower Moon is the story of the Osage tribe mainly from the perspective of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Ernest Burkhart who marries a member of the Osage tribe Mollie played by Lily Gladstone as he becomes entangled in the manipulation and murder of members of the Osage tribe so they would lose the head rights to their land.
Martin Scorsese is a legend of cinema. Hands down he is one of the best to ever make films. Even at 80 years old, Scorsese continues to direct films that are incredibly modern in their approach. This film could have easily fallen into the trap of not being respectful of the actual events and people. This is based on a true story and at the end of the day real people died, so anything less than respectful would have been nasty and disgusting. Scorsese handled this with so much love and respect and you can see it in every frame of this film. While the film focuses on tragedy and greed at its core it’s a film of love and respect for the Osage tribe. You can see that from the opening which centres around the tribe and them discovering the oil on their land. We hear the incredible soundtrack flourish during this scene and elevate a scene to heights I could not even imagine. It has been years since I have seen a film that has stuck with me so early on and continued to blow me away throughout its run time. At 3 hours and 26 minutes, the film is girthy and while the length can seem daunting. The pacing is exquisite, when the film is about to drag something new happens or is introduced to keep your attention and elevate the stakes and in turn the drama. What carries the drama is the cast.
Leonardo DiCaprio brought his A-game to this project. The standouts to me were Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone. They steel every scene they are In and bring life to their characters that are truly Oscar-worthy. Scorsese is truly a master of his craft so saying that his latest film is a masterpiece should not be a surprise to anyone. Killers of the Flower Moon is a work of art. A film that is a visual showcase of why I love cinema and a film that will go down in film history as a true masterpiece of film and a defying film of the 2020s.
Written By Robert Drever
Killers of the Flower Moon is in cinemas from October 20th.