"Ignorance becomes the central mystery": Killers of the Flower Moon
Scorsese films often fall victim to some of their audience only seeing the cooler elements of characters. No such problem here, as the villains are some of the most vile, pathetic and callous central characters he has ever focused on.
From low-level violence in his earlier works to white collar corruption in The Wolf of Wall Street, the evil in American life is a concept that has grown increasingly apparent in the work of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. His latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, takes aim at the role of greed and ignorance in racism.
In 1920s Osage County, Oklahoma, the Osage discover oil on their land which soon makes them the richest people per
capita on the planet. Leonardo Dicaprio’s Ernest Burkhart rolls into
town looking for work, where he is soon brought into a devilish plot to
take the tribe’s money and resources, masterminded by his uncle, William
‘King’ Hale (Robert De Niro). Once Ernest marries Mollie (Lily
Gladstone), the plan to eliminate her entire family is set in motion.
While the 2017 book by journalist David Grann follows the FBI’s investigation into the murders, the film shifts its focus to Ernest, turning the story from a ‘whodunnit?’ to a ‘why-was-it-done?’ Clocking in at a mammoth 206 minutes, it flows perfectly with virtually nothing which stands out as worthy of the cutting room floor, thanks in no small part to Scorsese’s long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
Scorsese films often fall victim to some of their audience only seeing the cooler elements of characters like Henry Hill and Jordan Belfort, and finding them aspirational as a result. No such problem here, as the villains are some of the most vile, pathetic and callous central characters he has ever focused on.
The central trio all give top-class performances. Gladstone’s Mollie
is the beating heart of the film. We are with her through every act of violence inflicted on her family and tribe. We feel her deep anguish as
someone with a heart and soul surrounded by men sorely lacking in
that department.
The grandfatherly image built up by De Niro over his last few decades of unchallenging, family-friendly fare is brilliantly weaponised here in the conniving Hale, hiding his evil under a façade of a champion of the Osage people. Dicaprio sheds his leading man image in a physically transforming performance, appearing ugly, slow and downtrodden.
This ignorance becomes the central mystery of the film. Is Ernest aware of the evil he is inflicting on his own family or has he not noticed? This idea is really the driving force of the film's message. When it comes to acts of racism and genocide, ignorance and complicity are two sides of the same coin, an idea which Scorsese reflects on in a final scene which attempts to reckon the part that he and all of us have played in turning these stories into historical footnotes.
While Killers of the Flower Moon showcases one of the most brutal and stories in Scorsese’s rich filmography, it's also one of his most thoughtful, self-reflective and nuanced in its portrayal of the Osage people and the genocide inflicted on them, as well as a larger portrait of how greed has always been a seeping rot at the heart of American society.
