It may not be wise to try and critique this imposing monolith of a movie that Martin Scorsese has unearthed as he enters his ninth decade amongst us. He is, after all, one of America’s pre-eminent men of letters – even though I believe the second half of his career does not, and probably never could, match the first half. I was saddened by ‘The Irishman’ (2019) which I felt was wrong in so many ways and consequently left my safe house for the cinema in a rather apprehensive state of mind.
So. Is it any good? Well, yes it is. But there are flaws and I think they’re important flaws – mostly because I readily concede that some will see these same aspects of the movie as strengths and not weaknesses. Hence my hesitation at the outset of this review.
The narrative is concerned with the evil that men do; In particular, white men. Evil requires victims and in this story, taken from history, it is indigenous Americans from the Osage tribe who are swindled and murdered in order to obtain their oil-based wealth. The stage for this numbing tragedy is Oklahoma shortly after the conclusion of World War 1.
As the story unfolds, the movie at times feels more like Francis Ford Coppola than Martin Scorsese. This isn’t just gangsters killing other gangsters. This is gangsters killing indigenous Americans and anyone helping them. This is about a culture being sacrificed to satisfy greed. It’s about racism and banking, the Ku Klux Klan and capitalism. It’s the director’s take on a particular piece of Americana – institutional prejudice – and despite the wondrous cinematography, it is often a hard watch. Which leads me to Robert De Niro. He portrays crime boss, William King Hale, who orchestrates the conspiracy to rob and murder the Osage men and women who stand between him and immense wealth. The movie runs for about three and a half hours and De Niro is on screen for much of that time. I see it as problematic that Hale has no back story. He just is. And he’s written, directed and played in a monotone of pervasive evil. Manipulation and treachery are his only characteristics. Existential hell is his proving ground. And at 206 minutes, that can be quite telling on an ancient posterior perched on a tired cinema seat. I feel, also, with that amount of time on his hands, Scorsese should have drawn more detailed pictures of his principal Osage characters. The skimpiness of these sketches seems to me to be at odds with the presumed purpose of the project.
These concerns aside, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone contribute believable, nuanced performances that command attention throughout. Their presence has much to do with maintaining a credible balance to the narrative. In this, they are aided and abetted by Robbie Robertson’s persuasive original score of sighs and whispers from the Devil’s Music.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is an epic tale of corruption and failure of a nation at the crossroads. It’s writer and director, Martin Scorsese, still has things he needs to say about his country and his art. I have some uncertainties about the means he has employed to achieve that end. But since seeing the movie a few days ago, it has continued to resonate and insinuate in my consciousness. I might just have to see it again to put those concerns to rest.
wbalanstuart
wiseblood.net 