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In a grand premiere at the esteemed Lincoln Center in Manhattan, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is set to shed light on a shadowed chapter of American history: the homicides of Native Americans in the 1920s, amid a backdrop of petroleum greed.
Derived from the namesake book by renowned journalist and author David Grann of The New Yorker, this cinematic venture addresses the grave matter of “genocidal crimes” executed by white settlers against Native Americans. “When greed intertwines with the dehumanization of another race, it inevitably leads to such heinous acts,” Grann remarks, lamenting the erasure of these calamities from the American collective consciousness.
The film delves into the veritable and somber fate of the Osage tribe, whose unexpected affluence resulting from oil reserves on their Oklahoma lands made them prey to the ravenous desires of oil tycoons and opportunists. The narrative zooms in on Ernest Burkhart, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, ensnared in a nefarious scheme led by oil magnate William Hale, a character embodied by Robert De Niro.
Against this charged backdrop, Scorsese, a global cinematic star, perceives a “millennial” and universal narrative of “cultural confrontation.” To the director, while the incidents are rooted in 1920s Oklahoma, they still resonate today due to enduring cultural clashes and injustices spanning ages and continents. “It’s a tale of mutual misunderstanding, of a feeling of entitlement,” Scorsese divulges, subsequently noting that “the Americans there were essentially Europeans.”
With a production budget estimated at $200 million, the film’s magnitude is undeniable. After a Cannes Film Festival debut in May, the film gears up to captivate North American theaters on October 20, preceding its French release by two days and its subsequent availability on the Apple TV+ platform.
Beyond its entertainment value, the film has an educative purpose. Geoffrey Standing Bear, the Principal Chief of the Osage Nation, underscores the enduring hardships of indigenous populations in the US over half a millennium. “This film underscores the ongoing struggle,” he asserts, emphasizing the imperative of acknowledging and memorializing these injustices. Such a sentiment gains even more relevance with the impending National Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 10, instituted by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Given the intricate nature of its theme, Killers of the Flower Moon is poised to offer a compelling portrayal of the strains and disparities that have shaped US history, all under the adept helm of Scorsese.
With AFP
