
Image Credit: The New Yorker
From the mind of legendary director Martin Scorsese, known for critical and box-office successes such as The Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas, comes a new historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro. Reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer released this summer, To Kill a Flower Moon reveals a dark and significant side of American history not always talked about in full detail.
The movie is based on the book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, written in 2017. The film shortens the title, but this is the only short part about it. Clocking in at just under three and a half hours, watching the film in one go is no small feat. However, for such a long film, it manages to hold up well with beautifully shot cinematography and violent action scenes.
Taking place in 1920s Oklahoma, the movie goes through a series of murders in the Osage Nation, and the many players involved. The main character, Ernest Burkhart, (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns home from war where he served as a cook. There he meets up with his uncle, William King Hale, a political and crime boss in the area. Soon enough, Ernest marries Mollie, an Osage woman. During this time, the Osage grew wealthy because they sold the rights to their land to white people seeking to utilize the vast oil wealth on Osage land. However, many bad people came to this land in search of ways to take advantage of the often uneducated Osage people, who found themselves with new wealth.

Image Credit: House Beautiful
By telling the stories of conspiracy and foul play, such as white people who would marry into Osage families to attempt to gain the inheritance, Killers of the Flower Moon takes its viewers on a journey that takes many years and has far-reaching effects. With stunning visuals and Oscar-worthy performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone, this film is a must-watch and one of the year’s best.
This film marks the tenth collaboration between legendary actor Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, the first being Mean Streets, released 50 years ago. Additionally, this is the sixth Scorsese-directed film featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. By combining two of the most celebrated actors in the film industry, as well as adding a heartbreaking performance from Lily Gladstone, this film easily became a must-see. The ensemble cast also features smaller roles from nevertheless known actors, such as Jesse Plemmons (playing an FBI agent), Brendan Fraser(playing a lawyer), and John Lithgow(playing a court judge).
The opening scene of the film is a surreal, slow-motion, action-packed scene of a group of horse riding Osage Indians galloping through the plains, when crude oil erupts from the earth, coating them in the substance. Strangely, the tone appears positive, even celebratory, but to the viewer, it seems off-putting, and this feeling carries on throughout the rest of the film. Overall, Martin Scorsese’s twenty-sixth feature-length narrative film is a dark yet enjoyable journey of a movie that everyone who appreciates cinema should take the time to watch this year.

Image Credit: Yahoo
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