By Bailei Burgess-Simmons and Maia Venuti
Staff Writers
Martin Scorese’s highly-anticipated western crime drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” was released in theaters nationwide on Oct. 20. Scorsese’s newest movie was, to say the least, a masterpiece, and to say the most, one of his best and most unique movies to date.
Based on the 2017 book written by journalist David Grann, the film tells the true story of the murder and terrorization of Osage Indians in Osage County during the 1920s. It goes through the entire story, from the beginning when these inexplicable murders began, all the way to the Bureau of Investigation–the FBI’s predecessor–seeking justice.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert DeNiro, the film is a whopping 3 hours and 26 minutes long and uses every last second to tell this story in as much detail as possible.
Scorsese gave life to this true-crime epic of how a white businessman, William Hale (De Niro), orchestrated the killings of dozens of wealthy Osage Indians to gain access to their wealth and their oil-rich lands.
The marriage of Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), nephew of Hale, and Mollie Burkhart (Gladstone), an Osage woman, begins a long, sinister tale of racism, greed and brutal murder.
The root of the tension builds as the newly reserved land of the Osage people sat atop one of the largest oil reserves in the country. In just a matter of a few years, the Osage people became the wealthiest people per capita in the world, striking the reason for murder.
The movie covers the case being taken on by an obscure branch of the Justice Department called the Bureau of Investigation. The Osage County Killings would become one of the earliest big homicide investigations of what we know today as the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The casting was incredible. Scorsese’s intelligent cinematography and direction were made all the better by the incredible performance of the actors.
DeNiro, a familiar face in Scorsese’s films, also did an amazing job; he was genuinely evil incarnate as Hale and has proven himself to be a consistently incredible actor since the 1970s.
DiCaprio, again a familiar face in Scorsese’s works, also did a phenomenal job as the lead role of Burkhart; he was also deeply evil and morally reprehensible.
There was no point in the film where we were not convinced of DeNiro’s slimy arrogance, Dicaprio’s genuine idiocy or Gladstone’s deep-rooted pain.
As for the cinematography, the shots in this film were jaw dropping. There was never a boring or dull moment in this film, and a huge reason for that is the cinematography was consistently captivating and entertaining throughout.
This story is unlike anything Scorsese has ever done, and he took the time and effort to make sure that this little-known story of these horrific murders was told the right way.
The production team filmed on location in Oklahoma where the murders occurred, and Scorsese and the production team worked closely with Osage community leaders prior to and during filming. He casted over 40 Osage Nation actors and employed Osage artisans to work behind the scenes.
Yet at the same time, as out-of-the-box as this movie is for him, it is still so distinctly Scorsese. This movie is extremely out of his comfort zone, but also incorporates the things Scorsese does best and has become known for.
While completely heart-wrenching, the murders that take place pave the way for the film to be incredible and beautifully insensitive as if no one should be spared the discomfort and the horrors experienced by the Osage people.
Do not let the 3 ½ hour runtime intimidate you — “Killers of the Flower Moon'' was one of the most incredible, thought provoking, emotional and informative cinematic journeys to ever grace the film industry. It’s the perfect movie for anyone looking to immerse themselves in an egregiously edifying slice of history.
