Martin Scorsese and the entire team behind the film Killers of the Flower Moon received no more and no less than nine minutes of applause yesterday after the official screening at the Lumière Theater of this ambitious and exciting three-and-a-half hour story that rescues one of the most shameful episodes in United States history: the genocide committed against the Osage Indians in Oklahoma in the 1920s.
“When I received the script, I knew immediately that I had to approach this tribe with a lot of respect,” Scorsese explained at a packed press conference in the presence of Osage chief Standing Bear, who said his people “still suffer” but have grateful to the director “for having restored the trust of the Osage in white men.”
Scorsese, winner of the Palme d’Or in 1976 for Taxi Driver and the Best Director Award for Jo, what a night! in 1986, he confesses that he was moved by reading the events and felt the need to know everything about that tribe. “It’s overwhelming… the more I found out, the more I wanted to contribute.” He refers, among others, to the values ​​of these natives about love for the land and respect. “I’m not talking about turning this into a political issue; I’m really talking about how to live on this planet. I reoriented myself every time I heard it.”
Asked about his opinion regarding the war in Ukraine, he said that he feels “very nervous about Russia’s aggression; very nervous about that whole area.†“The younger generations don’t remember World War II. They don’t remember the Balkan nations and what happened there, and what happened with Poland in the 19th century and the Russians again.” “My feeling is that coming from a country that has a republic, which implies freedom of expression, you can have an adversary without maddening or killing them. You have to live in peace.” And he added: “We have to support countries that are at least trying some kind of democratic process. The problems that exist today are even deeper than when fascism destroyed democracy in the 1930s.”
The film adapts the novel based on true events by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, with exceptional Robert De Niro and Leonardo DeCaprio as protagonists along with the magnificent surprise that the performance supposes. of Lily Gladstone, seen in First Cow, and Scorsese’s own cameo in the great final scene. Specialized critics have fallen in love with this new masterpiece by the director of The Irishman or Wild Bull, which points directly to several nominations in the next edition of the Oscars. Shot two years ago during the pandemic, its theatrical release will take place next October before landing on the Apple TV platform.
In it, De Niro plays Bill Hale, a powerful rancher who poses as a friend of the oil-rich Osage nation with the help of his nephew Ernest (DiCaprio), a dull guy who just got back from the war and who manipulates to marry one of the heirs to the county, Molly, played by Gladstone, an actress who grew up on the Blackfeet Indian reservation and is proud to have collaborated on a film that rescues an episode unknown to many people and that needed to be brought to light. “Making this film I have found myself more than finding Molly”, commented the interpreter, who has had words of praise for the director and her husband in fiction. “We need people like Scorsese and DiCaprio, we need allies,” she insisted.
DiCaprio, who was initially going to get into the shoes of the FBI agent investigating unsolved murders, a role played by an efficient Jesse Plemmons, only has words of enthusiasm for Scorsese, with whom he has collaborated on several films. “Scorsese manages to bring out the human side of the most sinister and cruel characters,” said the protagonist of Titanic, who believes that the film is a “tribute to the true story that happened.”
According to the American actor, it has been very important “to tell the story of the Osage community and to be with them”, while also mentioning the Tulsa massacre of 1921, when a mob of white residents attacked black residents and businesses. in that district of Oklahoma. And he believes that from the emotion after last night’s screening he keeps “mental images that I will never forget.”
When asked why he thinks Scorsese is the greatest director of all time, the actor wanted to speak from his own perspective to admit that his films have had a huge influence on him and on a whole generation of actors. “He I’m touched by his perseverance and ferocity in explaining the truth and the respect he has for the history of cinema.” A man who is a living legend -he will turn 81 on November 17- and who has never contemplated taking fewer risks in his career: “At my age, what else can I do but take risks? For me to do something comfortable would be a joke” .
De Niro, who at 79 has become a father again, commented that it is difficult for him to understand his character. “He’s a guy who tries to be charming to the Osage and then betrays them. He’s got this double face that’s become a regular thing.” And he has not been slow to draw parallels between his character and Donald Trump, without mentioning it. “We see him today and they know who I’m talking about, but I’m not going to say his name,” he says. “That guy is stupid.” “And there are people who think he could do a good job. Imagine that, crazy! That’s all I’ll say.”