ReelBob: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ ★★★★
By Bob Bloom
Three sorts of crimes are committed in director Martin Scorsese’s magnificent “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The first, and most heinous, in the systematic murders of members of the Osage Nation by greedy white men who covet the oil rights they own on tribal lands.
The second is the indifference by local law enforcement and officials to investigating and solving these deliberate killings.
The third, and most personal, is one of betrayal to family and oneself.
Unlike most Scorsese’s moves, which progress at a rat-a-tat-tat pace, “Killers of the Flower Moon at 206 minutes, is meditative and unhurried.
The movie, set in 1920s Oklahoma, is a thoughtful chronicle of the fraught relationship between Indigenous peoples and self-serving, racists whites.
Scorsese’s historical drama, which he cowrote with Eric Roth — adapting the best-seller by David Grann — is a cinematic cocktail of thriller, character study and love story, driven by a triumvirate of wonderful performances.
At the center of the story is Leonardo Di Caprio’s Ernest Burkhart, a shiftless and rootless World War I veteran who comes to Fairfax, Oklahoma, to live with and work for his uncle, William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro), the richest and most powerful man in the region.
Burkhart is thick — in physical appearance and in perception. His main obsessions are money and women — in that order. He is very pliable to suggestions and strategies — especially from Hale.
Manipulating the gullible Burkhart is child’s play for his uncle, who pulls his nephew’s strings like a latter-day Geppetto.
Hale encourages Burkhart to meet and woo Mollie, a single Osage woman with one of the richest oilfields among her tribe.
A dramatic tension that runs throughout the movie is whether Ernest really loves Mollie or is he just giving her lip-service to further his own — and his uncle’s — materialistic objectives.
And while Ernest often professes his love for Mollie — as well as their children — the manner in which Di Caprio portrays him leaves a breadcrumb of doubt about his true feelings and motives.
Di Caprio’s performance is the most difficult to discern. Is he a patsy, a fool or a willing, though reluctant, participant? Does he actually care about his wife? Or does his uncle and the riches they can gather through killing and theft mean more to him than his family?
Di Caprio’s characterization keeps you guessing and on edge throughout.
The heart and soul of the movie is Lily Gladstone’s Mollie. She does not have much dialogue, but her eyes and facial expressions convey more emotions than any words can. She seems always to be weary and on guard from the outside world.
The movie contains many instances in which Scorsese and his cinematographer, Rodrigo Prieto, simply linger of Mollie’s face.
She loves Ernest and is very aware of his shortcomings, and she tolerates them in silence and sadness.
De Niro gives one of his best performances in recent years. His Hale is a smiling, benevolent pillar of the community. But that is a veneer to mask a greedy, venal and treacherous conniver who is capable of any crime — including murder — to get what he wants. Hale whose nickname is “King,” has embedded himself into the Osage community, learning their language and acting sympathetic towards their plight. De Niro creates an individual who reeks of malevolence.
Jesse Plemons plays Ton White, the good ol’ boy agent of the fledging Bureau of Investigation, sent by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the killings. His quiet demeanor hides an observant investigator who quickly sniffs out the conspiracy — and the individuals who are complicit in aiding Hale’s scheme.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” benefits from Prieto’s camera work and a strong musical score by the Scorsese’s frequent collaborator, Robbie Robertson, who died last Aug. 9.
The movie’s finale, which ties up all the loose ends, is ingenious. It also makes a statement about our culture and the treatment and perception of the nation’s indigenous population.
If “Killers of the Flower Moon” becomes the 80-year-pld Scorsese’s career swan song — and I hope it does not — it is a fitting climax to a stellar career that has blended the spiritual and the secular as well as providing cinematic touchstones that will live as long as someone is making movies.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
4 stars out of 4
(R), language, graphic violence, grisly images