Killers of the Flower Moon | Scorsese at the top of his art

At 82 years old, Martin Scorsese offers a masterful film thanks to Killers of the Flower Moon (The American note in French version), ambitious western about greed, villainy, racism and dehumanization, which further debunks the myth of the American dream.

As in several of his most notable films, the great American master features characters of unscrupulous, corrupt and power-hungry criminals, who are not, however, devoid of paradoxes and ambiguities.

Killers of the Flower Moonadaptation by Scorsese and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Dune) from the novel of the same name by the journalist New Yorker David Grann tells a little-known part of American history. The incredible yet true story of the Osage Nation, condensed from the systemic racism and white paternalism that First Nations have suffered for decades.

The Osage people were driven from Kansas to Oklahoma, onto land believed to be of little value. But early in the last century, the discovery of oil deposits made the Osage Nation the richest in the world per capita.

At the beginning of The American note, the roles seem reversed: the natives wear jewelry and fur coats, have white servants and drivers. We quickly understand that several were placed under supervision because they were deemed “incompetent” by the State. This is the case of Mollie (Lily Gladstone), whose family owns land which is very expensive.

Trust and betrayal

Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a veteran of the First World War, arrives in the village, looking for work with his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), a cattle breeder very close to the Osage people, whose language he speaks. Hale, who insists on being called “King” – it could have been “Godfather” – is the wren of the region.

King Hale has a project in mind: that of marrying Ernest to Mollie, who has caught his eye, so that their alliance will entitle him, in the event of the latter’s possible death, to his share of the family fortune. Hale is prepared to go to great lengths to get hold of the inheritance of Mollie, her mother and her sisters.

The mysterious disappearances of natives eventually attract to town an agent of the new Bureau of Investigation (Jesse Plemons), ancestor of the FBI which had just been created by J. Edgar Hoover.

“It’s a story of love, trust and betrayal,” Martin Scorsese summed up in May at a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film was presented out of competition. It is also a lucid look at the indigenous blood shed to build the America of savage capitalism, which is little talked about in history textbooks.

Violent and epic, as are the majority of Scorsese’s works, Killers of the Flower Moon constantly keeps you in suspense, despite its 206 minutes. The filmmaker of Taxi Driver and of Wolf of Wall Street features his two favorite actors, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, together for the first time, respectively in their tenth and sixth collaboration with Scorsese.

Magnificent staging

Leonardo DiCaprio is remarkable in the skin of Ernest, a man of very average intelligence, who loves his wife, but also money and contraband whiskey. Mollie sees him as a “coyote”, but also an ally with flirtatious traits in whom she places her trust.

Robert De Niro finds one of his best recent roles in that of this twisted and powerful character, both adored and feared by those around him. While calling the Osage people the most admirable on the planet, he foments plots and subterfuges to extract their wealth.

Revealed by the excellent Certain Women by Kelly Reichardt, Lily Gladstone is the cornerstone of this plot with sociopolitical thriller overtones. Her dignified silence reveals more than many replies, and her eyes light up little by little with the evidence of what is going on around her.

Scorsese’s sober staging is magnificent. Starting with a full-angle shot of an indigenous funeral ritual, followed by a slow-motion sequence of jubilant Osage youths under a rain of oil. The process inspired by “true crime” put in place by the filmmaker to conclude his film is as original as it is ingenious.

Is it useful to specify that Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be released on the Apple+ platform in December, deserves to be seen on the big screen? It is the film review of a great master, still at the top of his art after five decades of career, who signs the cinematographic equivalent of his great American novel.

Historical drama

Killers of the Flower Moon (VF: The American note)

Martin Scorsese

Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone

3:26 a.m.
Indoors

8.5/10