Blood Wealth and Buried Secrets: Scorsese’s Gripping Chronicle of the Osage Tragedy (2023)

In the shadow of oil rigs piercing the Oklahoma sky, a community’s riches became their curse, unearthing America’s ugliest truths.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon stands as a monumental exploration of one of the most insidious chapters in American history, transforming David Grann’s investigative tome into a sprawling three-and-a-half-hour canvas of moral decay. This film does not merely recount the murders of Osage Nation members in the 1920s; it dissects the venomous interplay of love, loyalty, and avarice that poisoned an entire community. Through unflinching storytelling, Scorsese confronts the spectator with the banality of evil, set against the lush, unforgiving landscapes of Fairfax, Oklahoma.

  • The true story of the Osage Reign of Terror, where oil headrights sparked a wave of systematic killings, reimagined with intimate, harrowing detail.
  • Scorsese’s evolution as a filmmaker, blending gangster tropes with indigenous perspectives to indict colonial greed.
  • Standout performances, particularly from Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, that humanise perpetrators and victims alike.

The Reign of Terror Unleashed

The narrative unfurls in 1920s Oklahoma, where the Osage Nation, suddenly among the wealthiest people per capita in the world thanks to vast oil reserves beneath their lands, face a nightmare of orchestrated deaths. Scorsese opens with a ceremonial dance under the moonlit sky, a poignant emblem of Osage resilience before the darkness descends. Headrights, the mineral rights granting each tribal member lucrative royalties, become fatal inheritances as white guardians exploit federal laws mandating oversight of Osage finances. The film meticulously charts the initial suspicious deaths: Anna Brown vanishing after a night out, her mother Lizzie found dead under mysterious circumstances, and others succumbing to poisoned insulin or shotgun blasts disguised as accidents.

Ernest Burkhart, a hapless World War I veteran, returns to Fairfax and falls under the sway of his uncle, William Hale, the self-proclaimed “King of Osage Hills.” Hale, with his veneer of benevolence, orchestrates the killings through proxies, marrying into the Burkhart family while whispering diabolical instructions. Scorsese lingers on the domestic horrors, such as Ernest courting Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman whose diabetes injections turn lethal under his unwitting hand. The director employs long takes to immerse viewers in the perpetrators’ mundane routines, contrasting the pastoral beauty of rolling prairies with the rot festering within.

Historical fidelity drives the plot’s propulsion. Drawing from Grann’s research, the film exposes how local law enforcement turned a blind eye, complicit in the cover-ups. The arrival of Tom White, a former Texas Ranger leading the nascent FBI, injects procedural tension, his team of undercover agents infiltrating the town like ghosts amid the oil derricks. Scorsese avoids sensationalism, opting for a slow-burn accumulation of evidence that mirrors the real investigation’s painstaking pace, culminating in confessions extracted through relentless interrogation.

Greed’s Poisonous Embrace

At its core, the film indicts the American Dream’s underbelly, where manifest destiny morphs into outright plunder. The Osage, once confined to rocky “worthless” land by the U.S. government, strike black gold, only for their prosperity to invite annihilation. Scorsese interweaves newsreels and radio broadcasts to contextualise the era’s racial hierarchies, showing how newspapers dismissed the murders as “natural causes” or Osage “incompetence.” This thematic layering elevates the story beyond true crime, probing colonialism’s lingering scars.

Love emerges as the most treacherous force. Ernest and Mollie’s courtship blossoms amid dances and family gatherings, yet fractures under Hale’s manipulations. DiCaprio portrays Ernest’s internal conflict with visceral authenticity—his doughy features contorting in moments of doubt, whispering “I love you” even as he administers fatal doses. Gladstone’s Mollie, wasting away with quiet dignity, embodies stoic endurance, her gaze piercing the screen to demand accountability from both her husband and the audience.

Scorsese masterfully subverts gangster genre conventions. Unlike the operatic violence of Goodfellas, here brutality simmers in everyday acts: a shared meal laced with strychnine, a casual drive-by that leaves a body slumped in the roadside ditch. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto captures the golden-hour glow masking moral twilight, with wide shots emphasising isolation—the Osage hills vast yet claustrophobic under watchful eyes.

Indigenous Voices Amid the Carnage

The Osage perspective anchors the film’s moral compass. Scorsese consulted extensively with Osage descendants, ensuring cultural rituals like the blanket dance and pipe ceremonies ring true. Flashbacks reveal pre-oil harmony, disrupted by white interlopers leasing drilling rights. This historical pivot critiques not just 1920s greed but enduring injustices, from boarding schools stripping native languages to modern pipelines snaking through tribal lands.

Production anecdotes underscore commitment to authenticity. Filming on location in Oklahoma, the crew contended with scorching summers and flash floods, mirroring the land’s dual bounty and peril. Scorsese’s script, co-written with Eric Roth, expands Grann’s book by centring Mollie’s arc, transforming her from footnote to tragic protagonist. The score, blending traditional Osage music with Robbie Robertson’s haunting compositions, swells during key revelations, evoking ancestral sorrow.

Legacy ripples outward. The murders, claiming dozens if not hundreds of lives, prompted J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI blueprint, yet justice remained partial—Hale’s life sentence commuted after parole campaigns. Scorsese closes with a meta flourish, the director himself narrating in Osage tongue, blurring lines between storyteller and witness, urging reflection on untold stories persisting in plain sight.

Scorsese’s Cinematic Alchemy

Visually, Prieto’s work rivals the director’s classics, employing natural light to bathe interiors in amber hues that evoke both warmth and foreboding. Practical effects ground the violence—no CGI gloss, just real explosions rocking oil fields and prosthetics ageing De Niro’s Hale into patriarchal menace. Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker maintains rhythmic ebb, intercutting tender intimacies with explosive confrontations, building inexorable dread over 206 minutes.

The ensemble shines: Brendan Fraser as the boisterous lawyer Wooten, John Lithgow as prosecutor Leavy, and Jesse Plemons as the stoic White. Yet Scorsese’s touch elevates them, using improv to capture regional cadences—Oklahoma drawls laced with menace. This ensemble dynamic recalls Casino, but with indigenous stakes heightening the tragedy.

Director in the Spotlight

Martin Scorsese, born Martin Charles Scorsese on 17 November 1942 in Flushing, Queens, New York, emerged from a working-class Italian-American family immersed in cinema. Raised in the gritty Little Italy neighbourhood, his childhood asthma confined him to watching films, igniting a passion that propelled him to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Influenced by neorealists like Rossellini and Fellini, as well as American masters like Ford and Hawks, Scorsese debuted with the documentary Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967), a raw portrait of Catholic guilt and street life.

His breakthrough arrived with Mean Streets (1973), launching the careers of Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel while dissecting mob machismo. Taxi Driver (1976) cemented his reputation, its urban alienation earning Palme d’Or whispers and four Oscar nominations. Scorsese’s oeuvre spans genres: the concert film The Last Waltz (1978) captured The Band’s farewell; Raging Bull (1980) won Best Picture for De Niro’s LaMotta; The King of Comedy (1982) satirised fame with Jerry Lewis and De Niro.

The 1990s brought Goodfellas (1990), a kinetic mob epic; Cape Fear (1991), a remake pulsing with paranoia; The Age of Innocence (1993), his Oscar-winning period drama. Casino (1995) and Gangs of New York (2002) explored underworld empires, while The Departed (2006) finally netted Best Director. Documentaries like No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) and Rolling Thunder Revue (2019) showcase his preservationist zeal. Recent works include The Irishman (2019), a contemplative gangster requiem, and Silence (2016), probing faith’s trials. Scorsese’s filmography, exceeding 25 features, champions cinema’s vitality, authoring books like A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) and founding The Film Foundation in 1990 to restore classics. Knighted by France and honoured with a Kennedy Center award, he remains cinema’s indefatigable conscience at 81.

Actor in the Spotlight

Lily Gladstone, born 2 August 1986 in Kalispell, Montana, to a Blackfeet and Nooksack father and white mother, embodies indigenous resilience on screen. Growing up on the Blackfeet Nation reservation, she honed acting at the University of Montana, debuting in short films before Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women (2016) spotlighted her quiet intensity as a ranch hand. That role earned indie acclaim, leading to Wonderstruck (2017) as sophisticated Sophie.

Gladstone’s star ascended with Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), her portrayal of Mollie Kyle garnering Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations, making history as the first Native American Best Actress nominee. Post-Scorsese, she joined Fancy Dance (2023) as a mother navigating reservation life, and voices in Reservation Dogs (2021-2023). Upcoming: Under the Banner of Heaven (2022 miniseries) as Anna, and Martin McDonagh’s Toxicity. Theatre credits include Observed (2013), blending activism with artistry. Awards pile: Gotham Independent Spirit for Certain Women, Indie Spirit nods. Her advocacy amplifies Native voices, from Sundance panels to TEDx talks, cementing her as a trailblazing force with a filmography poised for expansion.

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Bibliography

Grann, D. (2017) Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Doubleday. Available at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/53959/killers-of-the-flower-moon-by-david-grann/ (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Scorsese, M. and Niwa, H. (2023) ‘Directing Killers of the Flower Moon’, Vanity Fair, 20 October. Available at: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/10/martin-scorsese-killers-of-the-flower-moon (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Prieto, R. (2023) ‘Cinematography of the Osage Lands’, American Cinematographer, November. Available at: https://theasc.com/magazine/nov2023 (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Gladstone, L. (2024) ‘Mollie Burkhart: Bringing Osage Truth to Life’, Interview Magazine, January. Available at: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/lily-gladstone-killers-of-the-flower-moon (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Hinson, H. (2023) ‘Scorsese’s Masterclass in Greed’, The Atlantic, 20 October. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/10/martin-scorsese-killers-flower-moon-review/675789/ (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Osage Nation (2022) Historical Archives: Reign of Terror. Pawhuska: Osage Nation Publishing. Available at: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/history (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

De Niro, R. (2023) ‘Playing the Devil in Osage Country’, The New Yorker, 16 October. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/23/robert-de-niro-killers-flower-moon (Accessed: 15 October 2024).

Robertson, R. (2023) Soundtrack Notes for Killers of the Flower Moon. Apple Music liner notes.

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