Killers of the Flower Moon
Year: 2023
Director: Marton Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio & Lily Gladstone
Runtime: 206 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 08/03/24
Director: Marton Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio & Lily Gladstone
Runtime: 206 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 08/03/24
With the Academy Awards just around the corner I felt it was about time I checked out one of the year’s most highly nominated films as I missed it in the cinema. I had plenty of opportunities to see it, but due to the gargantuan runtime of three hours and thirty minutes I wondered whether it would be best waiting for a home release. Plus, with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour often playing in screens next door, I wanted to give the film a fair chance as many of the cinemas by me were screening them next door to each other at the same time (not the fault of either film), and we all know how poorly soundproofed modern cinemas are.
I also wanted to watch the film in a single sitting and finding that kind of time to just sit down and watch a film at home was going to be tough. But I’m recovering from an operation and there’s nothing else I can do but sit around all day so there was never going to be a more perfect time than now to restart my AppleTV+ subscription and check out Killers of the Flower Moon.
Set in the aftermath of World War I, the Osage Nation become incredibly wealthy following the discovery of oil on their land in Oklahoma. This oil and wealth bring with it the white man who are more than happy to serve the Osage people in an attempt to marry into wealth. Returning from World War I, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) moves to Oklahoma to live with his uncle Bill ‘King’ Hale (Robert DeNiro), sheriff of the town of Fairfax. When Ernest falls in love with Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a woman from a wealthy Osage family, he is convinced by his uncle to marry Mollie and aid in the systematic murder of Mollie’s family so that Ernest and his children can be the sole benefactors of the Kyle wealth.
I also wanted to watch the film in a single sitting and finding that kind of time to just sit down and watch a film at home was going to be tough. But I’m recovering from an operation and there’s nothing else I can do but sit around all day so there was never going to be a more perfect time than now to restart my AppleTV+ subscription and check out Killers of the Flower Moon.
Set in the aftermath of World War I, the Osage Nation become incredibly wealthy following the discovery of oil on their land in Oklahoma. This oil and wealth bring with it the white man who are more than happy to serve the Osage people in an attempt to marry into wealth. Returning from World War I, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) moves to Oklahoma to live with his uncle Bill ‘King’ Hale (Robert DeNiro), sheriff of the town of Fairfax. When Ernest falls in love with Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a woman from a wealthy Osage family, he is convinced by his uncle to marry Mollie and aid in the systematic murder of Mollie’s family so that Ernest and his children can be the sole benefactors of the Kyle wealth.
The elephant in the room is of course the gargantuan runtime. Killers of the Flower Moon runs for a bladder bursting two hundred and six minutes, one that most certainly would have seen me getting up to pee in the cinema. I’ve heard the arguments from Nolan and Scorsese about audiences needing to be ok with getting up to go to the loo during long films, but a part of me does begrudge that. I’m totally up for long films, Oppenheimer was excellent and there’s plenty of other three hour plus films I adore, but I think we need to bring back the intermission. The Hateful Eight had one and that was only two hours and forty minutes!
Anyway, does Flower Moon justify its runtime? I’d argue no. Much like Scorsese’s last film, The Irishman, I feel that he’s really just sort of being allowed to get away with making his films as long as he wants because it’s being produced by a streaming platform, with the intention of being watched at home. I think this could have comfortably been a two hour and forty-minute affair, or perhaps should have been a miniseries instead.
That then begs the question of whether I liked it, and honestly, it was just fine. I’m glad I’ve seen it because the story itself was interesting, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again, and I don’t think it deserves anywhere near the level of hype or praise it received on release.
The first thirty minutes or so seems surprisingly rushed as Scorsese attempts to introduce most of the cast and get the ball rolling on the relationship between Ernest and Mollie as quickly as he can. Following this we get a constant drip feed of story development, but it’s just done at such a leisurely pace. Urgency was clearly not something of a priority of Scorsese when he and Eric Roth wrote the screenplay, and it does seem like a bit of contempt for the viewer’s time.
Gladstone steals the show here with a performance that really gets to see her explore her range. Whilst her involvement in the final forty minutes or so of the film is miniscule everything up to that point, she gave a great show for. DeNiro also turns in a strong performance as usual, though I wouldn’t consider it among his best performances. He does play a charismatic bad guy very well, but it’s not as noteworthy as many of his other similar performances. I know people kept banging on about how great DiCaprio is in this film but honestly, I felt he just kind of rolled with it. Compared to his performances in films like Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Revenant it felt kind of restrained. I never saw that same level of commitment, or felt as invested in his performance as I did in those films.
Anyway, does Flower Moon justify its runtime? I’d argue no. Much like Scorsese’s last film, The Irishman, I feel that he’s really just sort of being allowed to get away with making his films as long as he wants because it’s being produced by a streaming platform, with the intention of being watched at home. I think this could have comfortably been a two hour and forty-minute affair, or perhaps should have been a miniseries instead.
That then begs the question of whether I liked it, and honestly, it was just fine. I’m glad I’ve seen it because the story itself was interesting, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again, and I don’t think it deserves anywhere near the level of hype or praise it received on release.
The first thirty minutes or so seems surprisingly rushed as Scorsese attempts to introduce most of the cast and get the ball rolling on the relationship between Ernest and Mollie as quickly as he can. Following this we get a constant drip feed of story development, but it’s just done at such a leisurely pace. Urgency was clearly not something of a priority of Scorsese when he and Eric Roth wrote the screenplay, and it does seem like a bit of contempt for the viewer’s time.
Gladstone steals the show here with a performance that really gets to see her explore her range. Whilst her involvement in the final forty minutes or so of the film is miniscule everything up to that point, she gave a great show for. DeNiro also turns in a strong performance as usual, though I wouldn’t consider it among his best performances. He does play a charismatic bad guy very well, but it’s not as noteworthy as many of his other similar performances. I know people kept banging on about how great DiCaprio is in this film but honestly, I felt he just kind of rolled with it. Compared to his performances in films like Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Revenant it felt kind of restrained. I never saw that same level of commitment, or felt as invested in his performance as I did in those films.
IMAX screenings were another big thing being pushed for this, and how cinematographer Rodrigo Preito had created such a beautiful looking film that it needed to be seen on as big a screen as possible. Honestly it was kind of bland I thought. Plenty of wide-open fields which were certainly nice, but the majority of the film takes place in small environments, houses, shops, courtrooms etc. Not spaces that can really utilise the IMAX format to a great extent. But perhaps I’m missing something having not seen it on the big screen.
So, this was what all the fuss was about, an over inflated runtime and an underwhelming lead performance from DiCaprio. The story was definitely interesting, and Gladstone shines here, but there’s no shying away from the fact that this should have either been significantly shorter or a miniseries. I can think of worse ways to spend three and a half hours whilst I recover from an operation, but even finding the time to watch this film is probably more effort than it’s actually worth. It was fine, but nothing worth shouting from the rooftops about.
So, this was what all the fuss was about, an over inflated runtime and an underwhelming lead performance from DiCaprio. The story was definitely interesting, and Gladstone shines here, but there’s no shying away from the fact that this should have either been significantly shorter or a miniseries. I can think of worse ways to spend three and a half hours whilst I recover from an operation, but even finding the time to watch this film is probably more effort than it’s actually worth. It was fine, but nothing worth shouting from the rooftops about.