One of the most renowned filmmakers in Hollywood, Martin Scorsese, is returning four years after his gangster film, The Irishman with an epic historical drama-thriller, Killers Of The Flower Moon. The movie has been in conversation for almost everything from its early reviews to its nearly four-hour-long runtime.
During his recent interview, the filmmaker shared what inspired him to make the movie, which he described as a love story, a crime story, and a historical epic. And he has traced back the impulse to make a movie like this nearly half a century ago, back to 1974.
Martin Scorsese Talks About Making Killers Of The Flower Moon
Based on David Grann’s 2017 book of the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon, follows the investigation into the killings of members of the Osage Native American tribe after oil is found on their land. During his recent interview with The New Yorker, director Martin Scorsese shared a 1974 incident that influenced his perspective on this project.
He shared that “it goes back to a time in ’74” when he spent some time with the Oglala Lakota tribe in South Dakota, where he was able to witness the “damage and the poverty.” Scorsese shared that he also grew up in poverty, but he “never saw anything like [that].”
Witnessing the struggle, poverty, and damage faced by Native Americans left a deep impact on the filmmaker. However, he was not able to fully comprehend their situation at the time, as he said, “I was so young I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand the damage and the poverty.”
The Irishman director shared that Hollywood has attempted to make pro-Native American movies by portraying such characters in a positive light. However, having witnessed their challenges and suffering, he wanted to shed light on their experiences and culture.
“But, in any event, no, I was always aware of poverty, and I always felt I was witness to it there only for a couple of days,” he shared. Scorsese shared that what he witnessed was “different” from his childhood perception of Native Americans, and he wanted to share the same through this movie.
Was Martin Scorsese Planning the Movie for 49 Years?
Having a first-hand experience in 1974, Martin Scorsese was asked if he had been planning a project involving Native American communities for 49 years. The filmmaker said that he stayed away from the idea due to the shock and lack of a perfect story, and that’s why it took so long.
“I stayed away from it. I stayed away from it because the shock was so strong. Somehow it had to be the right story, and that’s taken a long time.”
And he found the story in David Grann’s book Killers of the Flower Moon. He shared that his manager, Rick Yorn, gave him the book. The movie stars iconic Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Branden Fraser, and Lily Gladstone. The film has been receiving rave reviews and is set to hit theatres this week.
Killers of the Flower Moon is set to release on October 20, 2023.
