Tackling Native American Representation In Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon
A story some may misinterpret as “just another western film,” Killers of the Flower Moon portrays a complicated love story between two humans, director Martin Scorsese would say, in the midst of a volatile FBI investigation on Native American land. Scorsese, along with Osage Ambassador and Consultant Chief Standing Bear and Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, answered questions about their much anticipated film in Mexico City at a press conference.
Being born in 1942, Scorsese was always a great admirer of western films, but because of that reason he was very careful about creating one himself. When the story of Killers of the Flower Moon fell into his lap, he was more than intrigued. Scorsese said he was still nervous to tackle this story, but, with the sincerity gleaming in his eyes, I’d like to think Scorsese knew he needed the world to see this film.
Sitting beside Scorsese is Chief Standing Bear, an Osage politician who has served as Principal Chief of the Osage Nation since 2014. Chief Standing Bear shared that when the Osage community had learned the rights to this movie had been sold, they thought their story would be lost for good. But, after Scorsese knew it was a done deal, he immediately met with the Osage community. Scorsese knew as a white director, he had to have Osage voices present every day on set. Chief Standing Bear quickly came to the realization that Scorsese wouldn’t allow the voices of the Osage community to be lost, in fact it was quite the opposite. Chief Standing Bear said “the result [of the final cut of the movie] was better than anyone in the community could’ve hoped for.”
Scorsese often conducts lengthy research before starting a film. Having traveled to Oklahoma, he spent numerous hours with the Osage people, ensuring he would encapsulate their culture and story correctly in this film. When the book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI hit Scorsese’s desk, he was saddened. He expressed that the book was really about the FBI coming onto Native land and trying to figure out “whodunnit.” In other words, it was a real mystery story. Scorsese wanted to stray from that, saying, “It isn't a matter of who did it, it’s who didn’t do it? Everybody did it. Even if you just turned your head away and looked the other way, you’re complicit. […] Maybe that’s the story. How it’s so easy for human nature to be complicit in something this horrendous.” He continued by conveying that his own view on Native Americans stemmed from the ‘70’, therefore it was a “quite volatile” misrepresentation. He wanted to change that rhetoric, as well as the “love story” layered within the investigation. While in Oklahoma, Scorsese commented that the Osage people kept referencing the story of Mollie and Ernest. He remembered vividly wondering how Ernest could really love Mollie if he allowed these things to keep happening to her, deeming this “love story” much more complex.
Scorsese understood that you can portray Native American culture to an extent, but, he say,s the best way is if the aesthetic level is high, claiming that in order to “make a good story, rather than a message, you have to grab the heart. We are all people. We’re the same people with souls and hearts.” In short, it's a story, rather than a message to audiences. Scorsese noted that a lot of the Native Americans you will see in this film are descendants of the Osage people. He also relied heavily on the information that he received from his lengthy time with the Osage people.
Scorsese continued that stories have always presented the relationship between Natives and [white] Europeans as a sudden massacre when, instead, it was really a slow, long slaughter of Natives. This story attracted Scorsese because on the outside, nothing really happened. There was no big bombing, no big shoot out, but there was a racial struggle. Scorsese went on to state that it doesn’t have to be some big, blown out event for something to be a present problem.
This film’s protagonist is played by Native American Lily Gladstone who is not from the Osage tribe. Scorsese expressed that even Gladstone was very concerned about representing Indigenous people in the right way, given that she wasn’t descendant from the specific tribe she was portraying on screen. When asked why the movie doesn’t display subtitles, Scorsese said it’s evident that Gladstone is so brilliant that the movie didn’t even need subtitles. You can visually see what's happening through the emotion conveyed through her eyes and facial expressions. Scorsese thought subtitles would get in the way. It’s done not to provoke an audience, but to encourage an audience to deal “further with the humanity of the characters.”
It’s important to note that while this film and its director strived to represent Native Americans, it’s still highlighting a bigger issue that lies in our society today: a prominent, white male created this movie, telling a story that isn’t his. While there were Native Americans being represented on screen, and behind the scenes, it was ultimately Scorcese’s input that reigned supreme. There are outstanding stories written and directed by Native Americans, showcasing their stories and culture. Lily Gladstone stars in Fancy Dance directed by Erica Tremblay, a member of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, that came out this year, but didn’t get the media attention of a Scorcese film. While it’s important to see more Native Americans in front of the camera, as an audience, we have to be conscientious of who is behind it as well.
To coincide with that idea, the movie’s Osage language consultant Christopher Cote recently shared his own complicated feelings on Killers of the Flower Moon. “I was nervous about the release of the film. Now that I’ve seen it, I have some strong opinions. As an Osage, I really wanted this to be from the perspective of Mollie and what her family experienced, but I think it would take an Osage to do that. Martin Scorsese, not being Osage, I think he did a great job representing our people, but this history is being told almost from the perspective of Ernest Burkhart and they kind of give him this conscience and kind of depict that there’s love. But when somebody conspires to murder your entire family, that’s not love. That’s not love, that’s just beyond abuse,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s premiere. “I think in the end, the question that you can be left with is: How long will you be complacent with racism? How long will you go along with something and not say something, not speak up, how long will you be complacent? I think that’s because this film isn’t made for an Osage audience, it was made for everybody not Osage. For those that have been disenfranchised, they can relate, but for other countries that have their acts and their history of oppression, this is an opportunity for them to ask themselves this question of morality, and that’s how I feel about this film.”
The conference ended with a thought-provoking statement of Scorsese saying he will never consider this movie a western as you can’t segment this movie into one category when it’s concerning complicated human themes of “love, trust, betrayal.”
Starring Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and more star in Killers of the Flower Moon out in theaters worldwide.
