Upon the release of the trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon, movie fans seemed more excited than ever to watch it. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film is an adaptation of a true crime book by David Gran. It tells the true story of a string of murders where several members of the Native American Tribe, the Osage, fell victim to the discovery of oil. The murders triggered an FBI investigation, the first of its kind when it was first started. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, who play Ernest and Mollie Burkhart, respectively. The pair play a couple in a poisonous relationship, given Mollie’s Osage background.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Given the setting, the film is seen through the eyes of a Western. Although, Scorsese wanted his own little spin on it. According to Collider, “Scorsese was inspired to rewrite the script so the film is more embracing as a human story than a procedural.” In other words, he wanted to focus on capitalist greed and romantic betrayal, officially supplementing a normal Western genre film. Lily Gladstone liked the idea as well, as per Collider, seeing it as “more of a great American tragedy.” As Gladstone has a Native American background, she also liked how Scorsese attempted to focus on Native American people. She especially appreciated their treatment, given they were and still are a marginalized group of people.
Commenting on the idea of the marriage, Gladstone told Empire that “it was very familiar to see this goofy, exaggerated cowboy sort of character falling for a really self-possessed native woman.” This is only another way Scorsese spun the Western genre and made it something of its own. With the movie’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, the new film has already received critical acclaim. Hopefully, that acclaim sticks once the film reaches theatres later this year on October 20th.
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