Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese

 

Barbara and I went to see this movie in the theater Wednesday

afternoon.  I had read the book years ago and enjoyed the book,

but just vaguely remembered the plot.  This is an important

story of how white people mistreated native americans to

gain personal wealth.  The movie is often brutal, however we

both enjoyed the film.

As we were leaving our home, Ben asked what movie we were

seeing.  He then asked if we knew how long the movie was,

that some theaters were putting an intermission in the middle

of the movie.  He was right about the length of the film.  We

watched the end credits and it finished just short of 4 hours after

the film began.  It should be noted that there were 30 minutes

of previews, still it is a long film!

I was surprised that the theater was close to empty. 

Maybe 15-20 people.  We have seen 4 movies this year in

theaters.  Avatar 2, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon,

all had very low attendance.  It is true that we prefer to go to

movies mid-week in the afternoon.  We also wait a week or two

after the movie opens.  However, in the past there have always

been larger crowds during these types of movies.  The one

exception this year was Barbie, there were probably 100-150

people watching that movie, mid-week in the afternoon.  I worry

that they will quit showing serious dramas in the future.  It will be

all superhero movies or action movies with little plot or character

development.  

A brief synopsis of the movie:  The Osage tribe was relegated to

poor farmland in Oklahoma.  By poor, I mean land that is

not good for farming.  Then a large oil field was discovered and

changed everything.  The area became the richest per capita in

the US.  White people moved into the area to tap into the great

wealth.  This movie is a story of one white family who married into

Osage families and systematically murdered Osage people to

expand their wealth.

I thought the acting was incredible.  Robert De Nero and Leonardo

DiCaprio were great in major parts.  I had never heard of Lily

Gladstone, she was amazing in a major role playing a member of

the Osage nation.  "Martin Scorsese filmed in Oklahoma and cast

Osage and other Indigenous actors. The Osages were involved at

every level of production including costumes, sets and the depiction

of customs and language."

Smaller roles were played by Jesse Plemons, John LIthgow and

Brendan Frazier.  All were incredible.  In the credits, Sturgill

Simpson, Charlie Musselwhite, Jack White and Jason Isbell

were listed.  I did not notice these musicians during the movie,

though Jason Isbell is probably the only one I would recognize.

Barbara and I really enjoyed the movie.  Some parts were pretty

brutal, watching innocent Osage natives getting murdered was not

fun.  However, we were so engrossed in the movie that we did not

notice the length of the film.  I expect it to get a number of Oscar

nominations.