Global Film Review: Killers of the Flower Moon
Reading the book by David Grann before watching the movie. I found it exciting and appreciated how Roth and Scorsese took the book and turned the story into a tragic love story about betrayal and greed. Taking Environmental Literature this semester, we discussed indigenous people and how Americans mistreated them. Constantly being taken advantage of for their money, the film shows the mistreatment of the tribe while beautifully presenting their cultures and traditions.
While the film may have been extended for some, there were no lulls in the story as they concisely included every central part of the timeline. However, I would have liked to see Jesse Plemmon's character, Tom White, have a bigger storyline and show his importance as much as it does in the book. In a review from the New York Times, Manohla Dargis writes, "In adapting it, Scorsese and Roth have more or less jettisoned the second half of Grann's subtitle: There's little in the movie about the Federal Bureau of Investigation, its foundational years or its newly appointed young director, J. Edgar Hoover" (Dargis 4). Plemmons is too good of an actor to have a few words in a scene and stand politely in a corner.
The acting in the film was top-notch. This is one of De Niro's best performances since 'The Irishman.' He was perfect for the role of William Hale, and it was great to see him go head-to-head with Leo DiCaprio and witness two legendary actors be locked in a scene. It was refreshing to see De Niro show his chops and not phone it in like he has in some of his recent films. This character was dark and rich in personality, so he could not coast by with such a significant role. Teaming up with his long-time friend and colleague Martin Scorsese brings out the best in him, and the work means more to him than just a paycheck.
DiCaprio embodies the character of Ernest Burkhart as the actor always seems to take on roles that struggle with greed and cannot keep up with their own lies. The greed ultimately ruins Burkhart's relationship with his wife, Mollie Burkhart, played by Lily Gladstone. While Gladstone gave a strong performance, I don't think it held up with the vast amount of buzz surrounding the actress's portrayal of a natural person in this film - especially a 10-minute standing ovation at film festivals, which is a trend I don't seem to understand.
The chemistry among the actors in the film made the relationships between the characters believable. The ebbs and flows of sex, drugs, and booze plummet to bullets and blood. Every sequence in Killers is filled with energy and many moving parts, from the smoke of the train at the station to the drag racing in town and then the landscape of Oklahoma.
While I did not wholly agree with the film's ending, it was a creative and oddly powerful way to tell the rest of the story about the Osage tribe and Molly's life in an NBC talk radio episode format.
When the Osage discover oil for the first time, the scene is shot slowly to show the feeling of ecstasy as the tribe members jump up and down. This discovery of oil brings the Osage money and death. The film is shot digitally, with different color palettes used to show the period of the early 1900s.
There is a spiritual element in the film as firelight reflects off the faces of Ernest Burkhart and William Hale in two separate incidents. As the attack on Mollie's sister Reta goes as planned, Ernest is faced with looking at the aftermath of the home he ordered to blow up. The firelight and light from the street show the fear and guilt in his eyes. The burning of William Hales' farm to collect insurance money and the flames in the distance reflect the uncle's pure evil and emotionless mind. He sees the workers dancing in the fire, representing how William Hale will burn slowly.
