THB #395: Killers of the Flower Moon

Reviewing a Martin Scorsese movie is different.

Thelma Schoonmaker and he find new and fascinating ways to cut together what his great cinematographers (here, Rodrigo Prieto) shoot. Robbie Robertson took the music for this film somewhere interesting and challenging in a way that is exceptional. 7-time Oscar nominee (1-time winner) Eric Roth is a consummate pro on the keyboard. Etc.

You aren’t criticizing Scorsese’s movies by the same standards by which one reviews most movies. The craft is always beyond reproach. There is always innovation in the work. It’s not just that he is a living legend as a filmmaker, one of a handful… it’s that, like the old saw, he could shoot the phone book and he would find some really beautiful, memorable moments.

I saw Killers of the Flower Moon.

Then I asked to see it again, anxious to examine the details that I feared might have eluded me in the 3 hour and 26 minute long movie the first time.

Seeing a movie a second time is always different, especially when the filmmaker is doing interesting stuff. Surprises are no longer surprises, so that breath of excitement is no longer there. But a great movie can make you gasp after you have seen it a dozen times. More importantly, it is easier the second time to settle into the forever-rhythm that the filmmaker is offering. You know the performances a little, so you can see what the actors (and the editor) were really after.

In this film - no spoiler - there is a building that explodes. What the various characters are doing right before that moment and just after that moment is really important in the storytelling. In the swoosh of the moment, one’s focus is likely elsewhere… but details are being offered.

Also in this film - no spoiler - there is a repeating location in the town. How characters move in and around and out of this space matters to the storytelling. You know that in a second viewing, not so much in the first.

In any case…

There are a lot of beautiful things (some of which are horrible) in Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese & Co recreate a growing town in Osage, Oklahoma magically.

Robertson’s use of music combines powerful traditional native music and modern variations that you could easily imagine being woven into the latest hit by Beyoncé or Lil Naz X.

The acting performances, with a couple exceptions, are undeniably right… whether from unfamiliar, relatively inexperienced actors or recognizable veterans.

And yet, even after two viewings - and I will see it again, gladly - I found myself trying to figure out how and why Scorsese, clearly allowed to do as he pleased, didn’t really stick the landing.