Martin Scorsese is incontestably one of the greatest minds cinema has ever seen. From the very beginning, the world has seen the many thoughts and ideas Marty has brought to the table with a unique approach each time. Since he has been making films for nearly 60 years, any decade is worth an examination of what Marty is trying to say within each film. This current era is filled with the most introspective work of any director’s career. Killers of the Flower Moon is the newest continuation of Marty’s brain.
The newest epic from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon, is an important film. In 1920’s Oklahoma, oil is discovered on Osage territory. Starting as a story of riches, love, and success, things quickly and drastically shift to theft, betrayal, and murder. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert DeNiro, and Jesse Plemmons.
Spoilers will most likely be ahead, but here is my experience with Killers of The Flower Moon. Speaking negatively of something “Made in Scorsese” is blaspheme about 90 percent of the time. Luckily, there was not much blasphemy in my movie. However, I do have some small nits I want to pick at really quickly.
Killers of the Flower Moon Trailer
The Negatives
Out of this entire 210-minute movie, there are only about three things I walked away with thinking about in a negative light. The biggest thing was some of the length of the movie. Truthfully, I could have sat through another hour or so of this movie. I only bring this up here as an issue, because there are moments you can definitely feel the length.
Performances in this were overall fantastic. Out of everyone in this movie, only two performances left some thoughts behind in my head. All love to the man, but I thought Brendan Fraser was over-doing it a little. He was doing great, but then a moment came where I wished things would ease back a bit. Aside from that I thought DiCaprio was overall great, but sometimes he was not doing enough for me.
His position as the conduit between the Osage peoples and the rest of the townsfolk is definitely a necessary one, but since this conduit is Leonardo DiCaprio, you can understand why I would have liked a little more. “Underwhelming” is not a word I would use, but I think compared to Leo’s other collaborations with Scorsese, this one did not live up to the level as the others.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon. Image provided courtesy of Apple and Paramount Pictures.
The only other nit I have to pick is how abrupt the ending was. My attention was totally and utterly in on this film and story. Sure, the film was over three hours long by that point. Of course, I loved the Jack White and Martin Scorsese cameos in this classical radio show. No, bringing this film to four hours would not have been the worst thing ever.
All of this stems from a place of total engrossment. This film is utterly amazing and my issue might just be that I did not want it to end. What can you really do in a situation like that? Watch it again?
Absorption
While I have not rewatched the film, I think despite my issue with the abrupt ending, it works equally in favor of and against this film. Nothing was ambiguous. Everything was said and solved. Martin Scorsese wrapped up his story and told everything the way he needed. When the dust settled and I had to return home, there was definitely a part of me that could have lived in the theater with this film never ending.
This current era of Scorsese is very absorbing. Silence, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon are all grueling stories, but enthralling worlds. I would even throw The Wolf of Wall Street into that mix as well. With Flower Moon, everything is absorbent and exciting. From the score to the soundtrack, to the cinematography, to the authenticity of the Osage peoples, to the set designs and costumes- all of it is compelling. This story is real. Everything happened and is still this way today. What engrossed me the most about this film is how layered the messaging of this film is.
Messaging and Meanings
Take it at face value and look at it as the clear connection to the overtaking of any Indigenous Peoples’ land. Think a little more and it covers the erasure of basically any race or modern minority groups. Sit with the movie for a little bit, and a larger thought seems plausible. This long film is grabbing you and showing how long this story is, but how quick it can end. Tell the story as long as you like, and get as detailed as you want, but then it will just end because someone else said so.
Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon. Image provided courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Maybe I am grasping at straws, but I think the long runtime and abrupt ending is the real storytelling of the overtaking of the Indigenous Peoples’. A 3.5-hour movie with some convenient editing is not at all comparable to the generations of people that were oppressed and pocketed from history due to greed, ignorance, racism, and the whole lot.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a fantastic starting point to reopen this history. We think we know the whole story, but we barely get the gist of any of it. After weeks of thinking about all of what this film could mean, I still do not believe I cracked the surface of it. What does this movie mean as a movie? What does this mean coming from Martin Scorsese?
The Performances
In a movie directed by Martin Scorsese that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, the best performance by miles is Lily Gladstone. Never for a second did Gladstone stop being my favorite performance in this film. Of everyone in this film that totally and completely deserves a win for their performance- it is Lily Gladstone. She stood head and shoulders above DeNiro and DiCaprio which is so damn impressive to me.
There is not nearly enough good that I can say about Gladstone’s performance. She is strong willed and self-focused, but this never stops her vulnerability. We see her pride as a woman, as a member of the Osage Tribe, and as a mother. Yes, we see it as a wife, but Ernest DiCaprio muddies those waters a bit since he sucks as a husband. Either way, Lily Gladstone deserves every syllable of praise and is my early pick for the Best Actress award.
Performances Continued
I do still believe this is on the lower end of DiCaprio’s performances with Scorsese, but he was still very good. In this role as Ernest, I could not tell where his allegiances truly lied for 80 percent of the film. Ernest was not an intelligent man, but he was smart enough which made his relationships with everyone feel shaky. Either way, it was a good performance.
Next is Robert “Robert DeNiro” DeNiro as “King” William Hill. While I do think this performance was good, yet lower on the list of their collaborations, DeNiro was still killer. Even in little old guy form, DeNiro is still a powerhouse.
Lily Gladstone, Robert DeNiro, and Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon. Image provided courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
There are too many people in this movie to go over every single one. However, everyone at every point does a phenomenal job. What else is there even to say? Due to the gravity of this story and the realism that is still affecting our world today- everyone takes this as seriously as one can and they all deliver great performances.
Random Extra Thoughts
Recently, one of my best friends went to see the film. Typically, when either of us watch a movie worth mentioning to each other we will throw some jokes at each other and wrap it with some real thoughts. Not for Killers of the Flower Moon. Both of us came out of this feeling the sheer power and density of this film. He later followed it up with “I didn’t trust a single white person in this thing” which is the realest statement ever, but I digress. “Cinema is so back,” we both agreed.
This film is a journey, but one that is completely worthwhile and important. It is an important moment for the authentic showcasing of Osage stories and actors on screen in a major film production. This is an important moment for the world to start learning about the Osage Peoples.
It feels wrong to compare Flower Moon to Scorsese’s other films, given, like, everything else Scorsese has made. Even his recent and more profound films, this one still feels like something uniquely personal. Silence is the closest in spiritual approximation but that leaned heavier on Scorsese’s religious questioning. In Flower Moon, I still can’t decipher what this film means to him.
There are heaps of spirituality and connectivity to God. There is also so much focus on lineage, ancestry, tradition, community, family- both in the domestic and bloodline sense, and love. I do not think I actually scratched the surface of what else this movie talks about. This is a dense mountain of a movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon. Image provided courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese
Before I start repeating myself I think I will wrap it up there. Killers of the Flower Moon is without question the most important movie this year. Barbie is number 2, obviously. You can count on it that this film will, for sure, be in my top 3 of the whole year. How could it not be?
Flower Moon is such an important film, and I am so lucky I was able to see it in theaters. With the length you can watch this in chapters, but I think the best experience is for sure to absorb everything in a theater. Killers of the Flower Moon is a 9/10. Give Lily Gladstone her Oscar, you cowards.
