After The Irishman, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese returns with another epic crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon. The film based on David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book of the same title depicts one of the darkest and infamous periods of American history that was never recorded. Through this film, filmmaker Martin Scorsese brings back the horrendous memories of those gloomy years of the 1920s. When oil was discovered in the Osage Nation in 1897, the Osage people became rich overnight. They were the richest people with the highest per capita income in the world. However, wealth attracts greed and greed leads to heinous crimes. White Americans flocked to the Osage Nation and tried to grab the Osage lands by marrying Osage women and killing numerous Osage people. In Killers of the Flower Moon, a wealthy rancher and deputy Sheriff of the Osage Nation William King Hale (Robert De Niro) marries his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) with an Osage woman named Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone) and then destroys her family so that Ernest can be the owner of the oil headrights of Mollie’s family. However, Mollie survives, and Hale and Burkhart are arrested by the Bureau of Investigation (BoI), which would later become the FBI. Even though BOI was able to track the murders of Mollie’s family members, many murder mysteries of the Osage members were never resolved. They never got justice and their tragedies were buried forever. In Killers of the Flower Moon, filmmaker Martin Scorsese digs deeper and portrays Ernest and Mollie’s love story and America’s worst hidden crimes.
The film starts in the Osage Nation, Oklahoma, USA where several elderly Osage members bury a ceremonial pipe to mourn the mixing of Osage culture with the white American culture. When oil is discovered in Oklahoma, Osage members suddenly become wealthy overnight with mineral headrights. However, as per law, they are allowed to manage their money only by court-appointed legal guardians.
The large sum of money of the Osage people starts attracting the White Americans to the Osage Nation and becomes their curse. In 1919, a fellow white American named Ernest Burkhart returns from World War I and comes to the Osage Nation to stay with his uncle William King Hale, the deputy Sheriff of the Osage Nation and a wealthy cattle rancher. Hale cons the Osage people by portraying himself as a well-wisher of the Osage people and offering them expensive gifts. Ernest starts working there as a cab driver and falls in love with an Osage girl named Mollie Kyle. They get married as per the Osage tradition and are blessed with three children in a few years.
William Hale gets multiple Osage members killed by contract killers. Mollie is diabetic and her mother Lizzie is seriously ill. William Hale brainwashes Ernest that the oil headrights of Mollie’s family members will be transferred to him once they are dead. Mollie’s sister Minnie dies suspiciously and her other sister Anna is killed by Byron as per the order of William Hale. Being terrified and utterly heartbroken, the Osage members hold the white Americans culpable for the Osage murders.
Tulsa Race Massacre terrifies the Osage members. Mollie’s mother Lizzie passes away while dreaming of her ancestors welcoming her in the afterlife. William Hale punishes Ernest as he fails to get Mollie’s last surviving sister Reta and her husband Bill killed. As per Hale’s order, Ernest arranges the murder of Mollie’s first husband Henry Roan. An Osage Nation representative who is about to raise the issue of Osage murders in front of the US Congress gets killed suspiciously in Washington DC. As per the order of William Hale, Ernest appoints notorious criminal Acie Kirby to murder Reta and her husband Bill by blowing up their house. Despite serious illness, Mollie travels to Washington DC with an Osage delegation to meet and request President Calvin Coolidge to help the Osage people. William Hale orders Ernest to poison Mollie’s insulin to “slow her down”. Ernest follows his order but decides to poison himself as well.
Mollie’s meeting with the president of the United States turns out to be fruitful as the Bureau of Investigation (BoI) sends an investigation team led by Detective Thomas White Sr (Jesse Plemons) to investigate the Osage murders. William Hale tries to save himself by killing his hitmen. Thomas White interrogates both Ernest and William Hale and arrests them after realizing quickly that they are guilty. The investigation team rescues Mollie and takes her to the hospital. After the tragic demise of one of his daughters, Ernest testifies against his uncle. Hale fails to get Ernest killed. Mollie meets Ernest but leaves him shortly. Years later, a radio program discloses the aftermath of the Osage massacre. Both Hale and Ernest were sentenced to life and released later on parole. Shoun brothers who infused poisoned insulin into Mollie’s body were never prosecuted because of the lack of evidence. Byron was also released without imprisonment because of the hung jury. After divorcing Ernest, Mollie married a man named John Cobb. After a prolonged illness, she succumbed to diabetes at the age of 50 in 1937. She was buried beside the graves of her family members. However, the Osage murders were not inscribed on her grave.
Even though David Grann’s non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon has a significant portion of BoI investigation and subsequent FBI formation, this is not the central point in Scorsese’s film with the same title. He appointed multiple Osage members to this film. Some of them are featured in the film as extras and some other members helped in production. After multiple rounds of discussions with them, Scorsese clearly understood that the heart of the film should be Ernest and Mollie’s love story. So, instead of focusing much on the BoI investigation, Scorsese meticulously portrays Ernest and Mollie’s love story. However, he also meticulously portrays the exploitation of the Osage people and their murders by white Americans. They preyed on the Osage people. Scorsese has woven the story in a brutally cold way without much sound and thrilling effects. Many Osage members believe that the FBI could not crack multiple murder mysteries and Osage people came out of that dark period by relying on each other and not fully because of the FBI. Maybe because of that, Scorsese did not follow the book completely, rather shifted the focus on crimes and relationships, instead of portraying suspense and thriller through FBI forming. He completely devoted himself to knowing the Osage people, their lives, and their culture.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a film about love and how the purest love gets shattered amid violence and killing. Ernest loves his wife Mollie but also poisons her as per the order of his uncle William Hale. However, he testifies against Hale when his daughter dies. So, the love has multiple ups and downs. Neither Ernest is a complete villain nor a perfect lover. He is a confused and weak person who does not have a strong personality and can be influenced easily. A lover neither kills his wife’s family members nor poisons her. So, Ernest may not be a true lover but he definitely cares for his wife and always refers to her as “a good one”.
The important question remains why Mollie did not suspect Ernest and William Hale for the Osage murders, and why she allowed Ernest to infuse insulin into her body when it was only deteriorating day by day. Many Osage members believed and, still, believe that Mollie truly loved Ernest and also there was no established proof against him in the Osage murders. So, she did not want to break her family and got blessed with 3 children over time. Cherished and treasured relationships always create an enormous impact in our lives when those are shattered. When trust is broken, relationships become futile. So, when Ernest confessed to his crime, Mollie immediately divorced him in 1927.
Even though the story is set in the American West, Scorsese has not necessarily made it a typical Western film. Even though the story revolves around multiple murders of the Osage members, Scorsese has not made the film a crime thriller. Rather, he has portrayed the Osage murders crudely. The severity and scope of the incidents are so vast that Scorsese has covered those in the film incredibly meticulously and carefully. So, quite naturally, the film ends up being three and a half hours. He is always fascinated by the con men taking advantage of the docile men. In Killers of the Flower Moon, William Hale brainwashes Ernest to commit crimes against the Osage people. Ernest even ends up poisoning his beloved wife. In the film, Scorsese shows that committing murders is as cool as drinking a bottle of wine. Overall, Killers of the Flower Moon is an incredibly well-made film with top-notch acting, lighting, over-the-shoulder shots, staging, and blocking.
One of the most heart-touching scenes in the film is when Mollie’s mother Lizzie passes away. At the juncture of leaving this world, Mollie’s late ancestors welcome her to the new world of the afterlife. Through this scene, Scorsese beautifully shows how immensely Osage people are connected to their roots, culture, and family. So, it is not a surprise that Lizzie wants to get back to her late ancestors after leaving this world. The same sentiment is reflected in the words of Mollie and Henry Roan. When Ernest asks Henry whose land this is, Henry replies “My land”, when Ernest asks Mollie’s skin color, she answers “My color”.
In the last scene of Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese shows how the tragic past of America became mere radio entertainment content. More than 100 Osage people were murdered and countless others were tortured by the white Americans during the reign of terror. Many cases were never resolved and many culprits were never prosecuted. The miseries of the Osage people were never included in American history books. In Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese shows the world many glimpses of one of the most infamous and dark chapters of the United States of America.
The title of the film is a metaphor. In North America, the full moon in May is called the ‘flower moon’ as this is the blooming time for trees and plants. However, Osage people refer to it as the ‘flower-killing moon’ as millions of tiny plants that bloom in April are killed by the larger trees once they grow up, surpass the smaller plants, grasp their water and soil resources, and start blooming in May. Flower petals of the dead plants are fluttered on the soil. Similarly, White Americans murdered the Osage people and grabbed their wealth during the reign of terror in the 1920s. So, author David Grann kept the title Killers of the Flower Moon for his non-fiction book as a metaphor.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro play the lead roles in the film. Initially, Scorsese chose Leonardo to play BoI agent Thomas White. However, Leonardo opted to play Ernest Burkhart when the focus of the screenplay shifted from the BoI investigation and subsequent FBI formation to the love story between Ernest and Mollie. Leonardo meticulously portrays Ernest’s weakness, docility, and vulnerability, and also revolts against his uncle after his daughter’s death. Ernest’s confusion is reflected in his facial expressions. Robert De Niro as a conman, powerful deputy Sheriff, and wealthy rancher is brilliant. His friendly portrayal at the beginning of the film makes it difficult for the viewers to believe that such a person can commit heinous crimes against the Osage people. However, this film ultimately belongs to Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart. Her restrained acting without much dialogue in portraying the miseries of Mollie and the Osage people is extraordinary.
Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the greatest examples of how efficiently a cinematographer can play with lights and shadows to portray the crux of the story. This film is a masterwork of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. His camera captures magnificent views of the vast fields of Oklahoma. Prieto has used 35 mm film for this film and a digital camera for a few night scenes. Two special lenses were manufactured to create the look of the film of the 1920s. He used natural lights for the scenes involving the Osage people but autochrome for the scenes of Ernest and Hale. The more the story progresses toward the climax, Prieto creates more contrasting and sharp images. In Killers of the Flower Moon, Prieto and Scorsese have created multiple incredible scenes like oil gushing out of the soil, the blast of Reta and Bill’s house, Ernest and Mollie’s marriage, and William Hale burning his field to claim insurance.
Thelma Schoonmaker’s slow-paced but rhythmic editing reveals the incidents and characters slowly. Schoonmaker is one of the greatest editors of all time, and this is her 22nd collaboration with Martin Scorsese. So, his vision is meticulously portrayed on the screen through Schoonmaker’s incredible editing.
Composer Robbie Robertson composed the music for Killers of the Flower Moon. Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson knew each other for more than five decades. This film was their 11th and final collaboration as Robertson unfortunately passed away two months before the release of the film. The film is dedicated to him. Because of their long association, Robertson knew Scorsese’s requirements very well. For this film, he used music influenced by native American culture and famous musical tracks of the 1920s. In the film, his music based on banjo, piano, drum, and flute resonates with the reign of terror but also raises intense determination and hope for the Osage members to fight for justice.
One of the most important aspects of the film is the influence of Osage tradition and culture on it. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese collaborated with numerous Osage members during production. So, he could achieve authentic make-up, hairstyling, and costumes, which imparted pure indigenous flavor to the film.