The big picture
- The rise of true crime media has desensitized audiences to the horrors of violent crime, focusing more on the “crime” aspect than the true horror and despair.
- Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon breaks through the genre’s clichés by focusing the story on the delicate relationship between Ernest and Mollie Burkhart rather than a procedural investigation.
- Scorsese’s film challenges true crime’s laxity in portraying victims and highlights the flaws in glorifying murderers and exploiting acts of violence for entertainment.
Over the last decade, the true crime genre has experienced an unprecedented boom in popularity. Like podcasts Serial and documentary series like Creating a murderer have made cruel themes palatable to a mainstream audience. Narrative miniseries on various streaming services have been a factory for adaptations of real-life crimes. While there are cultural critics who do a better job of analyzing this phenomenon, the rise of true crime media appears to have desensitized audiences to the harrowing nature of murder and other violent crimes. It’s an easy way to engage viewers by asking them to develop their theories about who the perpetrators of the crimes at hand are. As the true crime text segues into the parlor game of crime, the genre quickly loses sight of the horror and despair that comes with depicting violent crime. The new Martin Scorsese historical epic, Flower Moon Killeroffers a fitting counterpoint to the annoying clichés of the genre.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is an adaptation of the true crime novel of the same name by David Grann, which details a series of suspicious murders of members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma after oil is discovered beneath their land. The book also traces the founding and rise of the Federal Bureau of Investigation J Edgar Hooverwhich matches agent Tom White‘s investigation into the Osage murders. Grann’s book is extensively researched. Despite a dense story with countless names and events, “Killers of the Flower Moon” flows with the seamlessness of a crime novel while maintaining its disturbing core premise: How could this human atrocity remain hidden from the public for so long?
Flower Moon KillerWhen oil is discovered on Osage Nation land in Oklahoma in the 1920s, the Osage people are murdered one by one – until the FBI steps in to solve the mystery.
Release date October 20, 2023
director Martin Scorsese
Pour Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers
Evaluation R
Genres Drama, crime, story
Martin Scorsese fundamentally changed the perspective of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Scorsese, who co-wrote the film adaptation of “Flower Moon” with Eric Roth, made a crucial shift in the direction of the narrative. Following the structure of Grann’s book, they initially envisioned the film as a procedural film from the perspective of Tom White (Jesse Plemons). Leonardo Dicaprio, Scorsese’s 21st century muse, who was originally slated to play White, questioned what the true essence of this story was. Upon closer inspection, Scorsese and Roth came to a revelation. The film was supposed to revolve around the delicate relationship between them Serious And Mollie Burkhart. “They loved each other, Ernest and Mollie. And don’t forget that. They loved each other,” an Osage woman said to Scorsese, as described in an interview with the director deadline. “Whoa. That’s the story. “How could he do what he did?” said Scorsese. Suddenly, after casting DiCaprio as Ernest and breakout star Lily Gladstone As Mollie, Killers of the Flower Moon truly proved to be a Martin Scorsese film and not your average true crime saga.
“I think the audience is ahead of us,” Scorsese announced about the validity of “Killers of the Flower Moon” as a crime thriller at a press conference after the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. “You know it’s not a crime, it’s the one who didn’t do it,” he elaborated. Evil is an overwhelming force that permeates the entire narrative. The Osage Nation, a once vibrant community full of family traditions and natural beauty, was destroyed by the shameful self-righteousness of Ernest’s uncle. William Hale (Robert DeNiro). His dictatorial complex is an integral part of the Hale character. Scorsese foregoes any notion of mystery by alerting the audience to the fact that Hale is orchestrating this murder plot. He justifies himself as a domineering figure towards the Osage people and poses as an ally by poisoning them and shooting them in the back of the head. Scorsese explained in the Deadline interview: “You know he’s a bad guy. There is no secret. So what is it? A police procedural? Who cares? We have fantastic cases on TV.”
Scorsese deconstructs the whodunit nature of true crime
Image via Apple TV+Although Scorsese’s ambitious narrative construction and confrontational character development does not explicitly subvert the true crime genre, it does undermine the fundamental components of a retrospective detective story. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a challenging film, and its lack of interest in grappling with the delicate sensibilities of “true crime” will discourage many viewers. Scorsese realized that this story wasn’t about who killed who. Instead, he reflected on his past with gangster films by introducing a criminal enterprise that doesn’t even hide in plain sight. Hale is practically the embodiment of law enforcement. Hale’s ubiquity and his grand conspiracy speak to larger ideas about the sinister nature of capitalism and the history of Native American oppression.
He indulged Scorsese’s preference and made a crime thriller that asked, “Who didn’t do it?” “Killers of the Flower Moon” is an acknowledgment of the director’s late worries about morality in his thinking Be silent And The Irishman. As history progresses, it becomes clear that few, if not any, non-Osage people were absolved of sin. The conspiracy slowly unravels and shows that the assassination attempt went far beyond the power of Hale and Ernest Burkhart. Extended family members of Ernest, the husbands of Osage women, lawyers, the town undertaker, and many other diverse personalities were all Hale soldiers. In a picture full of wolves, it is quite difficult to concentrate on “crime”.
True crime media naturally glorifies murderers, no matter how persistent the author is in portraying them with a grotesque image. At the very least, serial killers or criminal overlords are glorified for their cunning abilities to carry out a variety of crimes. Flower Moon presents a crime ring full of buffoons. These people are not experienced criminals – not even William Hale, who is quickly identified as the perpetrator as soon as White formulates his investigation. An assassin, John Ramsey (Ty Mitchell), is unable to follow basic instructions to shoot Henry Roan in the front of the head instead of the back of the head, portraying the murder as a suicide. The murders depicted are so sloppy and obvious that they deconstruct the entire foundation of true crime documentaries and narratives. This is also a fascinating comment from Scorsese, who is often criticized for glorifying criminals. No one in their right mind would ever think that Ernest Burkhart is cool – a testament to DiCaprio’s ability to curtail his fame.
There is no sense of justice or triumph in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Tom White, a typical representative of true crime, is not associated with any sense of justice. Even if he is morally upright, his arrival comes far too late. Evil has ravaged the Osage Nation, and its persecution is, in the grand scheme of things, vanishingly small. The final quarter of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” consisting primarily of the prosecution of Hale and Ernest by the FBI and the latter’s subsequent confession, is intended to accelerate the narrative and conclude the film as a whole. Instead, Scorsese only heightens the fear, forcing the audience to witness Ernest’s futile attempts to redeem his soul and his relationship with Mollie, who had been inflicted with poison over an extended period of time by her husband. There is no triumph after his confession in Hale’s trial. White, solving a murder case as clear as day, barely scratches the surface of Hale’s orchestrated nihilism.
It’s a stretch to demand that even the most rudimentary true crime media aspire to the thematic complexity of the Martin Scorsese films. No matter what he touches, Scorsese dissects the human condition under the spell of temptation and guilt. This, of course, makes it preferable to the investigation of crime stories, as these evoke the most primal emotions. Exploiting the psychological fear of murder is something that true crime only tangentially touches on. When an artist gets stuck in the details of a procedural drama, the depravity of the murder, in the case of Flower Moon, mass genocide, is lost. Under the familiar guise of a police procedural, Killers of the Flower Moon would have neglected the more abstract (but vital) elements such as Ernest and Mollie’s perverse romance, Hale’s oppressive influence on his nephew and the community at large, and the inscrutable motivations of Ernest in his devotions to Mollie and Hale. Viewed from a broader perspective, true crime has left its general audience immeasurably desensitized to acts of violence. The authenticity of the horror of the Osage murders is often lost in the true crime media, which loses sight of the victims. It’s precisely for this reason that Gladstone’s captivating performance as Mollie is celebrated as the centerpiece of Killers of the Flower Moon.
“Killers of the Flower Moon challenges true crime’s laxity in portraying victims.”
Image via Apple StudiosThe film’s much-discussed ending, which replaced the traditional epilogue with a live radio broadcast detailing the events following the events of the film. The pomp and circumstance of the show glosses over the brutality of the text, which is emblematic of how this modern American tragedy has been swept under the rug by the authors of American history. In a stunning turn of events, Martin Scorsese himself appears on stage to read Mollie Burkhart’s obituary. After reading, Scorsese, who claims to be the producer of the radio show, explains in a sombre tone: “The murders were not mentioned.” The final shot, reminiscent of classic historical epics, is from a bird’s eye view and shows a massive tribal dance of the Osage community in the shape of a flower. As the shot slowly fades to black, a chilling feeling comes over the audience as they fully process the massive monstrosity before them.
Scorsese’s cameo reflects both his career as a filmmaker and America’s fascination with true crime. It’s a sobering realization that he and the audience are equally part of the problem. We have no compassion or understanding for the plight of the victims. Scorsese, who cemented his legacy with his dazzling portrayals of violent characters, shows incredible nuance and confidence in his mea culpa. Ending a three-and-a-half-hour crime drama with a challenging message like this validates the core of the film. Viewers at home will never be able to understand the suffering of the Osage people. Furthermore, the victims of evil acts continue to be forgotten under the example of the exploitative nature of true crime.