Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie Killers of the Flower Moon is likely to evoke plenty of debates by touching on the subject of a series of murders of the Osage Native American tribe of Osage County.
The 1920s reign of terror starts after oil is found on the natives’ land and highlights the scuffle between greed and determination to preserve one’s wealth and life.
If Scorsese’s storyline is consistent with David Grann’s novel Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the movie might be an uncomfortable watch for a few viewers, but it’s unlikely to be as controversial as his The Last Temptation of Christ.
How The Last Temptation of Christ Impacted Martin Scorsese’s Decision on Schindler’s List
Martin Scorsese‘s The Last Temptation of Christ hit the theaters in 1988. In the movie, the filmmaker explored the life of Jesus Christ laced with his struggle with different forms of temptation, including lust.
The film even included a scene wherein Jesus and Mary Magdalene consummate their marriage, much to several Christian groups’ rage. Explaining his thought process, Scorsese told Deadline:
“The whole point of that movie was to start a dialogue about something which is still important to me, which is the nature — the true nature — of love, which could be god, could be Jesus. I’m not being culturally ambivalent here, it’s what’s in us. Is god in us? I really am that way; I can’t help it. I like to explore that. I wanted a dialogue on that. But I didn’t know about all that yet.”
Such was the anger among certain groups because of the movie’s themes that a cinema hall in Paris was set on fire while it was showing the film. Meanwhile, Scorsese received death threats.
Perhaps this experience took its toll on the filmmaker, who ended up deciding he wasn’t best placed to direct Schindler’s List despite initially working on the script. He added (via Deadline):
“In the case of Schindler’s List, the trauma I had gone through was such that I felt to tackle that subject matter… I knew there were Jewish people upset that the writer of The Diary of Anne Frank was gentile. I heard that there were people who complained about Schindler, that he used the inmates to make money off them. I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ I could… well, not defend him, but argue who he was. I think he was an amazing man, but I didn’t know if I was equipped for it at that time. I didn’t have the knowledge.”
Steven Spielberg ended up taking over the helm and delivered one of the most engrossing Holocaust tales.
What Steven Spielberg Told Martin Scorsese About Making Schindler’s List
Scorsese effectively handed the movie about German industrialist Oskar Schindler to Spielberg, who did justice to the story based on the novel Schindler’s Ark. The Killers of the Flower Moon director even admitted that the movie would not have been that big of a hit had he directed it. Schindler’s List absolutely swept the Oscars in 1994, taking home seven Academy Awards.
Scorsese also revealed that he had a discussion with Spielberg regarding the two subjects years before their movies happened. He said (via Deadline):
“I remember Steve Spielberg, over the years, mentioning it to me all the time. He held up the book when we on a plane going to Cannes, and he said, ‘This is my dark movie and I’m going to make it.’ That was back in 1975. And I said, ‘Well, I have The Last Temptation of Christ, and I’m gonna make that.'”
Scorsese, despite all the protests against The Last Temptation of Christ, was also recognized for his work at the Oscars, earning a nomination for Best Director in 1989.
Source: Deadline
