As Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon arrives in theaters this week, the near-universal acclaim for the true crime story has seen a persistent critique that many say would strengthen the narrative.
The film centers on a series of murders of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma committed after an oil claim on tribal land was discovered. The villain of the film, Robert De Niro’s William Hale, is the uncle of the movie’s main character, Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Ernest Burkhart. Ernest is married to Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone, a Native American woman whose family members die under suspicious circumstances one by one.
Though the performances of DiCaprio, De Niro, and Gladstone have all been highly acclaimed by critics — as well as the movie’s overall quality and direction by Scorsese — a common critique amongst reviewers and others is that the story is not told through Mollie’s perspective.
“As an Osage, I really wanted this to be from the perspective of Mollie,” remarked Christopher Cote, an Osage language consultant for Killers of the Flower Moon. Cote gave the remark at the Los Angeles premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cote went on to say he did not believe the film was “made for an Osage audience.” However, he did say he thought it would “take an Osage” to properly tell the story from Mollie and her family’s perspective.
“Martin Scorsese, not being Osage, I think he did a great job representing our people. But this story is being told, this history is being told almost from the perspective of Ernest Burkhart. And they kind of give him this conscious and they kind of depict that there’s love. But somebody conspires to murder your entire family, that’s not love. That’s not love. That’s just beyond abuse.”
Cote’s point of view on how Flower Moon‘s story was told was not alone, as various critics expressed similar sentiments. Critic Tessa Smith said she wished the movie was “told from Molly’s perspective & not Ernest’s” but nevertheless maintained she was “glad that light was shed on these murders” after not knowing about them before.
Review channels on YouTube, such as Movie Files and Dan Murrell, have similarly brought up the issue of wanting to see more of the movie from Molly’s perspective or from the Osage people’s perspective, in general.
Criticisms aside, it will be an interesting award season this year with the likes of Flower Moon‘s De Niro being forecasted in the best supporting role for major accolades opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Oppenheimer role. Both play antagonists in their respective films, which are not only among the most acclaimed this year, but each one is a historical drama. Gladstone is also getting considerable buzz for things like the Oscars for her performance.
The 3.5-hour Killers of the Flower Moon is playing at a theater near you on Oct. 20.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
