In its stark and sober 206 minutes, the new Scorsese, presented out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, studies the killings of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s.
When it comes to carving out its history, American cinema has followed two parallel paths. The first, the most famous, has been dedicated to immortal myths, cleansing the rough edges of a nation marked from its origins, by a sign of violence. Contextual examples of this current are titles such as ‘The Birth of a Nation’ by DW Griffith (which turned Ku Klux Klan members into heroes) or ‘Stagecoach’ by John Ford, ‘Lincoln’ by Steven Spielberg. The second way, the least prestigious, has tried to boycott the epic reading of Yankee history, focusing on the hateful drive that nestles in the heart of a nation that witnesses, day after day, its self-liquidation at the hands of racism, The pursuit of personal gain and the cult of weapons.
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In this other cinematographic pedigree it would be possible to include such titles as ‘Greed’ by Erich von Stroheim, ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ by John Huston or Dark History Classes by Paul Thomas Anderson, especially ‘The Wells of Ambition’ and ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’. master’. While the film canon has tended to recognize the value of the first route while forgetfully marginalizing the second, things seem to be changing. The Spectacular ‘Killer of the Flower Moon’, the New Martin Scorsese Film, Can Be Read as Evidence of a Possible Paradigm ShiftWherein the Mount Rushmore of Yankee cinema, historically occupied by pro-government and promoting cinema, would be conquered by bastard films.
Yes, there is some bastard work in ‘Killer of the Flower Moon’. His gritty look at the reign of terror won by the Osage Nation made up of Native Americans in the 1920s is hardly equaled in the history of American cinema, or in the work of Martin Scorsese himself. Without completely abandoning its formal hallmarks—a cover job of mise-en-scene and frantic editing—, Scorsese conducts a dazzling exercise of stylistic refinement in ‘Killer of the Flower Moon’ that takes any audiovisual further. There is no room for ornamental preciousness in a film that dispenses with irony and sarcasm with a steady hand and exuberant detail, the agony of the killings committed by the Osage Nation at the hands of a Troop Willing to do anything to rob white people of Native American rights to oil-drenched land.
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Several scenes of the execution of the Osage men and women are shot in long takes by Scorsese. No devilish close-up tracking shots, hardly any slow motion, no freezes with which to turn a gesture into an awkward grin. release nostalgia and glamourScorsese’s writing is clear, direct, but not necessarily concise. Determined to arm himself with arguments in denunciation of historical barbarism, Scorsese has no problem depicting a Native American being executed twice, First through crude oral testimony, in the context of a trial, and then through one of those terrifying, elaborate visuals.
The magnetism of ‘Killer of the Flower Moon’A film whose scale is reminiscent of New Hollywood monuments, from ‘The Godfather’ to ‘Heaven’s Gate’– largely depends on the charm aroused by the characters of Ernest and Mollie Burkhast. A cautious and measured Osage, she was transformed by Scorsese and actress Lily Gladstone into a temple of quiet dignity. Presented as an indigenous sphinx, the character hides a storm of indignation and love beneath his brevity. The object of her affections is her husband, Ernest, a dimwitted, World War I veteran without stripes, who allows himself to be manipulated by his uncle, William Hale, a hypocritical and greedy monster who masquerades as a mistress. The latter hides a benevolent, ruthless killer. The character of Hal is played by Robert De Niro. uses the most dramatic side of his repertoire, The one that has marked his career since the success of the saga of ‘Ella’s parents’.
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For his part, DiCaprio, in the role of his life, is in charge of revealing the most complex dimension of ‘Killer of the Flower Moon’. WhatCan an ignorant wimp be aware of the tragic dimension of his actions? Is it possible that the line between stupidity, evil and the ability to love is thinner than we imagine? Scorsese uses the character of Ernest to see the most rotten and intolerant face of the American people, and in a characteristically Pasolinian gesture, manages to extract a blinding light from the most sinister darkness. ‘Colors of the Flower Moon’ is yet another testament to Scorsese’s genius at its highest, a filmmaker who has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to look into the depths of the human soul free from the temptation of morality. In his new film, that wisdom is combined with the rebellious spirit of someone who looks back on the past with anger, working in favor of a greater present and future.
For true crime fans with a true artistic flair
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data sheet
Address: Martin Scorsese Distribution: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Tantu Cardinal, Barry Corbin, Pat Healy, Luis Cancellami, Gary Basarba, Scott Shepherd, Sturgill Simpson Country: America Year: 2023 Release Date: 20–10–2023 gender: Thriller. Western. Drama script: Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese (Book: David Grann) Duration: 206 min.
Summary: When oil was discovered under Osage Nation land in Oklahoma in the 1920s, its people were murdered one by one until the FBI stepped in to solve the crimes.
Melinda Sue Gordon