The prospect of Martin Scorsese working with Robert De Niro is always an enticing one. In more recent years, he’s seemingly switched muses to Leonardo DiCaprio. But to have the venerated director putting both of them in one movie is something to celebrate.
Thanks to Apple’s hefty budget, Scorsese’s latest, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ is a historical epic that boasts not only his two main leading men, but a compelling concept and a stacked supporting cast.
And the hypnotic first teaser, while it doesn’t lay out the plot completely at this stage, does give enough of a hint of what to expect. The trailer, largely featuring DiCaprio’s character reading a native children’s story, is heavy with foreboding and metaphor, talking about wolves –– which clearly refers to the new arrivals who began killing the locals for their land wealth.
(L to R) Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
What’s the story of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’?
Scorsese’s new movie is rooted in a tragic true story.
It set in the 1920s in Oklahoma and concerns a series of murders of indigenous American people: members of the Osage tribe, whose land was discovered to contain considerable oil deposits. Those killings pointed to a wider political struggle for control of the land and the wealth bestowed from the oil industry –– and it was the fledgling FBI that investigated who was behind it all. It’s a sort of murder-mystery, then, but the wider canvas of the story is the USA’s historic dealings with native people, the transition from frontier America to something more modern, and the early days of the FBI looking into serial killers.
This is a tale told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), nephew of rancher William Hale (De Niro), and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), this is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.
Scriptwriter Eric Roth adapted the movie from David Grann’s eponymous, best-selling book.
(L to R) Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
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Who else is in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’?
In addition to his three primary actors, Scorsese has, as mentioned, gathered an impressive cast including Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means, Michael Abbot Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell, and Sturgill Simpson.
And Scorsese took extensive advice from Osage natives to get the story right. “The work is better when you let the world inform it,” Gladstone told Variety, noting how the film changed due to that guidance. “As the community warmed up to our presence, the more the community got involved with the film. It’s a different movie than the one (Scorsese) walked in to make almost entirely because of what the community had to say about how it was being made and what was being portrayed.”
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this week, ahead of a theatrical release (via Paramount Pictures) on October 6th. After that, it’ll be available to stream on Apple TV+.
(L to R) Lily Gladstone and Martin Scorsese in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
(L to R) Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ coming soon to Apple TV+.
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