Already critically acclaimed, Martin Scorsese’s most recent film, Killers of the Flower Moon (The American note), will be on display this Friday. This historical blockbuster chronicles how the Osage community was the subject of a murder plot in the 1920s. During a virtual press conference in which The duty was invited, the venerable filmmaker discussed this dark western, in addition to opening up about the ties of work and friendship that have united him for twenty years with Leonardo DiCaprio, and an eternity with Robert DeNiro.
In Killers of the Flower Moon, freely adapted from the book by David Grann, we follow Ernest Burkhart, a white man who married Mollie Kyle, an Osage, as much for love as for greed: thanks to oil royalties, the Osage community was then very prosperous. A prosperity which inspired William King Hale, Ernest’s uncle, a deadly stratagem consisting of marrying the Osages to whites so that they would inherit upon the premature death of the first…
“As soon as I was given the book and I considered making a film, the question I asked myself was: ‘How can we talk about this community in a way that is true, devoid of clichés, but which is not hagiographic either?” You know, the native nobleman à la Rousseau. Respect, authenticity, dignity, and dealing with historical truth honestly…”, summarizes Scorsese.
To do this, the director of Taxi Driver And Casino appealed to the Osage community, whom he met numerous times during the writing process, and whom he then involved in the filming.
“I was received by Chief Standing Bear. The community was initially cautious, which is normal,” recalls the filmmaker, who explained what he wanted to do, and how he intended to do it.
“I had this concern to integrate their rituals and present them well… We talked about magical realism [au sujet du film], but it’s not about that. When Mollie’s mother dreams of her ancestors, her ancestors are actually there. The owl as an omen of death, it is really there too. The ancestors are there, the owl is there, it’s true… In a way. I wanted to play between that world and that of white people. »
But precisely, as it was initially conceived, the project frustrated Scorsese. In that the book has as its protagonist FBI agent Tom White, dispatched to Oklahoma by J. Edgar Hoover in order to elucidate the murders which were then decimating the Osage community.
“The subtitle of the book is The birth of the FBI. Which means that we arrive at the story from the outside. »
A love story
However, this narrative bias was not conducive to the back and forth between the two universes present, Osage and white, which the filmmaker wanted to indulge in in order to show how they coexisted. It was a descendant of Ernest Burkhart, Margie Burkhart, who helped Martin Scorsese see things clearly.
“Margie reminded me of one fundamental thing: Ernest loved Mollie, and Mollie loved Ernest. It’s a love story. By going in this direction, it stopped being a mystery where we wonder who did it, and it became a story where we wonder who did it. not does the trick. Because this story is one of complicity, of guilty silence, of sin by omission… We stopped arriving at it from the outside, and we told it from the inside. »
Also dissatisfied with the initial plan, Leonardo swapped the role of Agent White for that of Ernest Burkhart. In the process, the director and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich) rewrote the script, completely changing its focus. From now on, the relationship between Ernest and Mollie would be central.
In the background of the horror perpetrated with a benevolent smile: meadows as far as the eye can see flanked, here and there, by sometimes dense nature, and infinite skies. Martin Scorsese’s eyes light up as he describes his first scouting visit to Oklahoma, where he wanted to shoot his film, whose budget is estimated at US$200 million.
“Then, past the excitement of wondering where I was going to put my camera and in what image format I was going to film, I suddenly understood that, in an area like that, with no one miles away, around, you can do whatever you want. This idyllic panorama could also turn out to be sinister. »
This dichotomy is representative of what the filmmaker describes as “casual genocide”.
“You have to understand that all these people involved, the whites, the Osages, were friends, sometimes very close. And yet, the former coldly murdered the latter. What is it about us human beings that makes us able to compartmentalize like this? Ultimately, that’s why we all decided to go with the story of Ernest and Mollie, because a love story is about the bond of trust. And when there is a betrayal this deep, and we know that this betrayal has taken place, that’s what it’s about; it can’t be anything else. »
Recommended by Bob
As Mollie, Lily Gladstone is magnetic. “I saw him in Certain Womenby Kelly Reichardt, and found it fabulous,” notes the filmmaker.
Like her co-stars, the actress of Blackfeet and Nimíipuu heritage learned the Osage language for the film. Without a doubt, we will hear about her at the Oscars.
As false benefactor William King Hale, Robert DeNiro is chillingly good-natured on the surface. This is the tenth time he has been in front of Martin Scorsese’s camera.
“Bob is one of my oldest friends: we’ve known each other since we were teenagers. For us, in cinema, it happened in the 1970s. Bob was never afraid to experiment; he was never afraid of anything. In the early 1990s, at the time of This Boy’s Life [Tu seras un homme], he said to me: “You should tour with this little guy. » He was talking about Leonardo DiCaprio. Bob very rarely makes these kinds of recommendations. Years later, Leo and I filmed Gangs of New York [Les gangs de New York] — the film was made thanks to him. Leo has a cinematic curiosity and openness that I really like. »
Scorsese and DiCaprio are now at six collaborations. This most recent one is most certainly their best.
The film Killers of the Flower Moon hits screens on October 20 and will appear on Apple TV + at a later date.