Killers of the Flower Moon narrates a chilling American tale, depicting the brutal slayings of numerous Osage County members in 1920s Oklahoma for their wealth and oil-laden property. In spite of Scorsese’s track record of Oscar triumphs, notably with The Departed, his aspiration to narrate this account was understandably met with caution from the Osage community.
Given his identity as a white director renowned for his work in mob dramas like Goodfellas, Casino, and Mean Streets, the wariness surrounding his involvement in this narrative is comprehensible. The latest film unflinchingly portrays the violence and emotional agony of the events, following the story of Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a young Osage woman who falls under the spell of the charming yet deceitful Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white man involved in a conspiracy to eliminate her entire family.
Osage Nation Members Were Skeptic About The Project
Geoffrey Standing Bear, the principal chief of the Osage Nation, expressed appreciation for Scorsese’s movies but conveyed worry that in his latest film, their community might only be depicted as lifeless figures and that the violence could overshadow their true identity.
Geoffrey Standing Bear said (via USAToday):
“‘We love your movies, but we’re concerned that in your movie, we’re all just going to be dead bodies.’ We were concerned that the violence would just show us as backdrop.”
In an effort to allay their concerns, Martin Scorsese took the step of sending Standing Bear a copy of his 2016 film Silence, which portrays the struggles of 17th-century Portuguese Jesuits confronting oppression.
Additionally, the Gray Horse Osage community organized a dinner for the director to engage with tribal members, several of whom had family members who were victims of violence during the Reign of Terror, a five-year period with a tragic legacy.
Martin Scorsese Changed The Script After Leonardo DiCaprio’s Suggestion
During an interview with The Irish Times, Martin Scorsese recounted how Leonardo DiCaprio’s insistence prompted him to revise the script for Killers of the Flower Moon, a project he had been crafting for two years. Initially aiming to shed light on what he termed a “terrible tragedy,” Scorsese credited DiCaprio with playing a pivotal role in bringing this vision to fruition.
Scorsese said (via The Irish Times):
“After two years of working on the script, Leo came to me and asked, ‘Where is the heart of this story?’ I had had meetings and dinners with the Osage, and I thought, Well, there’s the story. The real story, we felt, was not necessarily coming from the outside, with the bureau, but rather from the inside, from Oklahoma.”
Scorsese admitted to feeling apprehensive during his initial encounter with Chief Standing Bear, emphasizing the importance of their discussion to ensure that the narrative wouldn’t be sensationalized or exploit the sensitive context. Describing his reliance on their expertise, the filmmaker highlighted his practice of diligently noting down every insight shared with him on paper.
