FilmSnobReviews

Title: Killers of the Flower Moon
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons
Runtime: 3 hr 26 mins

What It Is: Real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal as Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation, tries to save her community from a spree of murders fueled by oil and greed.

What We Think: Killers of the Flower Moon demands your attention from the first scene. In a prosperous land, wolves come out to play at night, bleeding into what is an epic tragedy told exceptionally well by Martin Scorsese and co; most people will balk at the over 3 hour runtime, but its an unnecessary critique in this day and age. Scorsese’s touch is there, yet the film’s structure harkens back to the long epics of the Golden Age, the pictures of George Stevens (DiCaprio mentioned A Place In The Sun as a particular inspiration), a way of storytelling that has been unconsciously adopted by the series and miniseries of the 2010’s. If binge-watching (a unique practice of the past decade) an entire season of a new show is effortless enough for those at home, Killers of the Flower Moon is a nightcap in comparison.

The story plays out much like, as the old adage goes, a train wreck in slow motion. The perspective Scorsese chooses here is interesting because not only does it give insight to the inner workings of the darkest, most corrupt of souls, it solidifies without a shadow of a doubt how inhumane those characters are – all we can do is watch helplessly as they pave their path of evil upon the lilies. The film reminds us that there’s nothing that can change the film’s dark history, and Scorsese directs our eyes effectively to its horrors along with an incredible ensemble.

In the film’s final hour a slew of faces pop up that will delight and captive as well (as they did for me), but it is difficult to derive focus from the main three of DiCaprio, De Niro and Gladstone, seared into my mind with their individual brilliance. De Niro is a stone-faced, tight-lipped baron with a deadly stare – a single flick of the eyelid or a twitch of the lip made my heart drop. DiCaprio goes through a journey that constantly pits both sides of his morality against each other in a bloody battle, culminating in one of the finest pieces of film acting I’ve seen all year – that is to say, in conjunction with Lily Gladstone. She is absolutely mesmerizing; heart-wrenching and deadly calm at the film’s most impactful moments, laced with complexity, carrying a secret beneath her eyes. The rest of the cast is great, but the heart of this film lies with her, the darkness surrounding it taking the form of DiCaprio and De Niro.

Technology has aged well with Scorsese. On top of carefully staged crane movements and stunning close-ups, there are some incredible bird-eye shots and maneuvers that can only be achieved through modern methods, marrying with the visual language he commands so well along with his cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who also shot Silence), a language that is also prevalent with the best editing I’ve seen all year by the timeless Thelma Schoonmaker. Finally, a terrific film score from the late Robbie Robertson thumps and stirs its way into the mix, beat by beat, scene by scene, horror by horror.

Our Grade: A+; This is a dramatic epic the likes of which we are lucky to see from one of the west’s most distinguished filmmakers. Powerhouse performances and Scorsese’s visual poetry present a terrible moment in history through the veil of a tragic love story, making us realize how the darkest of deceptions lie right in front of us.