In Killers of the Flower Moon (The American note), Leonardo DiCaprio plays the worst kind of bastard: the one who is convinced he’s a good guy. In this, his character fits in with the morally ambiguous antiheroes who populate Martin Scorsese’s cinema. Based on the factual novel by David Grann, this event film returns to an important and shocking page in the history of the United States: the serial murders, perpetrated by whites, which decimated the Osage community of Oklahoma, in the 1920s.
The film provides crucial information from the outset, through intertitles. Namely, thanks to the discovery of oil on their territory, the Osages were the richest of all indigenous peoples.
In front of Scorsese’s camera for a sixth time, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a penniless veteran. Hence his coming to his uncle William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro, at the filmmaker’s house for the 10e times), a wealthy rancher who presents himself as a great friend of the Osage community.
However, this benevolence marked by paternalism is only a facade. In fact, King implemented a stratagem of marriages between whites and Osages: upon the premature death of the latter, the former inherited the capital and oil royalties.
Soon, Ernest marries Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a well-endowed Osage woman. During one scene, Mollie receives this half-amused, half-serious warning from her sister Anna (Cara Jade Myers): Ernest is a snake. Anna is right.
Hitchcockian approach
In the case of homicide, two questions are fundamental: “What is the motive for the crime? » and “Who benefits from the crime?” » The answers to these two questions being obvious here, Scorsese immediately puts the public into the confidence of his criminal characters – the director of Casino is, after all, used to it.
From then on, the tension emanates from two other nagging questions: “Will King and his acolytes, including Ernest, be apprehended? » and “Will Ernest follow through with his uncle’s scheme by trying to kill Mollie? “.
To anchor yourself in this way to the point of view of the assassin, around whom the noose tightens, is a very Hitchcockian approach to suspense: see Rope (The rope) And Psychology (Psychosis), notably. Moreover, like Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (The Chained), by Hitchcock, Lily Gladstone spends the entire middle of the film bedridden and mysteriously weakened…
However, Killers of the Flower Moon, it’s Scorsese from start to finish, starting with the choice of the protagonist. Like Ray Liotta before him in Godfellas (The Freedmen), Leonardo DiCaprio plays in this film an apprentice gangster who willingly places himself under the aegis of a dangerous mentor, played each time by Robert De Niro.
Contrary to Godfellas, however, and in most of the author’s previous films on behalf, the stylistic treatment turns out, in Killers of the Flower Moon, surprisingly wise. We look in vain for pieces of bravery (an epilogue in tele-theater “ true crime » reminding us that podcasts haven’t invented anything is brilliant).
In that Scorsese has this rare gift of grabbing moviegoers by the eyes and the guts with his technical prowess. The “signature” moments (this use of slow motion, these intermittent voice-over narrations, this sudden push of the camera, etc.) are there, but they are rare.
In short, Scorsese chose to step aside in favor of the subject: this atypical restraint honors him.
Genocidal appetite
Despite some lengths, this historic US$200 million blockbuster proves captivating. It is also supported by a trio of remarkable interpretations.
Leonardo DiCaprio composes a scoundrel who is both endearing and repulsive. Robert De Niro is, for his part, memorable as a profoundly racist false ally: beyond the lure of gain, there is, in this man, a genocidal appetite.
In the role of Mollie, this Osage woman, by turns wise and immersed in denial, Lily Gladstone, however, steals the show. His silences are incredibly inhabited. Revealed by Kelly Reichardt, in Certain Women And First Cowthe actress of nimíipuu and blackfeet heritage is magnetic.
Without a doubt, the venerable director offers a film as gripping as it is powerful, with discreet but undeniable virtuosity. It goes to show that, even far from his gangsters and his beloved New York, Martin Scorsese has no equal when it comes to probing the dark soul of his nation.