Written by: Siddhartha Krishnan | 7 Min Read

“I always tell the younger filmmakers and students: Do it like the painters used to…Study the old masters. Enrich your palette. Expand the canvas. There’s always so much more to learn” – Martin Scorsese

I opted for a 10 pm show of the Killers of the Flower Moon, a day after its release in India. Must admit that I was wary to begin with since I had little idea of the subject at hand. Moreover, with a run time of 3 1/2 hours, the filmmaker was demanding my patience. Something, Scorsese has been known to do off late. The Irishman is a case in point. The older he has gotten the more fearless he has become.

Having said that, as an audience thrown into an alien world, where things were moving at the pace of a tractor through the prairies, things weren’t exactly thrilling at first. More so, with my eyes getting heavier with every passing minute. It took a while to realize, that the pace was deliberate. A kind of ‘slow poison’, that is intended to kill your ignorance, and your apathy. (I’ll get to this point later in this article)

Given the violent themes that Scorsese picks, I was introduced to his films quite late. Well into my adulthood to be precise. Thereafter, I’ve seen most of his films. Halfway into Killers, a question sprouted in my mind—does Martin Scorsese have a signature style? I ask because I don’t see that style as clearly as I would in a Quentin Tarantino or Christopher Nolan film.

Let me rephrase for specificity—what is similar between Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, Hugo and Raging Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Killers of the Flower Moon, that tells me that this is a Martin Scorsese film.

The question compelled me to dig a bit deeper, and the findings were fascinating. I’ll be sharing what I discovered in light of the director’s latest offering.

Based on journalist David Grann’s best-selling non-fiction book ‘Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI’ the film tells the gruesome story of the Osage Murders from the perspective of the Osage people. The genocide of the indigenous people of America is a fact known to all. How it happened is the USA’s best-kept secret.

The film opens with a group of Osage elderly burying a ceremonial pipe mourning their gradual assimilation into white society after American lawmakers move them from Kansas to Oklahoma, into a reserved area. But soon their sorrow turns into joy when they discover oil in their allotted land, making them instantly rich. But this newfound wealth invites the greed of white people, some of whom work for the Osage and some others who have foul motives.

Deputy Sheriff, William King Hale, popularly known as ‘King’, played by Robert Di Niro is one such fox. He poses as a benefactor but means the tribe no good; secretly planning the murders of the Osage members to inherit their wealth by getting his trusted men to marry into their families. This is when Ernest Burkhart, a World War I returnee, played by Leonardo Di Caprio comes into the scene. The first conversation between King and Ernest is where Scorsese’s most striking characteristic as a filmmaker comes to the fore.

1. Character Study –

In the scene, King tries to understand how desperate Ernest is to get rich, and what his weaknesses are. We get an understanding of Leo’s character; that he is greedy and gullible. The conversation sets the tone for the film. Much like the opening scene of Taxi Driver, ‘the interview scene’, where De Niro’s character is applying for the job of a taxi driver. There too, the interview helps strike a contract with the audience.

You see such conversations throughout Killers, especially between the three main characters, King, Ernest, and Mollie. ‘Mollie Kyle’ (played by an excellent Lily Gladstone) is an Osage member whom Ernest marries on the advice of King. We know as an audience that their relationship is doomed, but that is what makes the scenes between Mollie and Ernest the most captivating. In the beginning, Mollie is suspicious of Ernest, but once she gives in, she becomes a slave to her love for him. Ernest on the other hand, is a slave to his greed. His greed is more powerful than the love he has for Mollie. The portrayal of this relationship is the highlight of the film.

You find parallels in The Wolf of Wall Street where Leo and Margot’s characters try to get into each other’s minds in the infamous dinner date scene. Although the characters are vastly different from the Killers of the Flower Moon, the similarity is how Scorsese finds cinematic value in simple conversations to reveal the qualities of his characters.

The director is not interested in demonizing or glorifying his characters. He is keener to show their motivations no matter how flawed they are. Exploring the things that make them human. He likes unraveling the layers of his characters through conversations, monologues, and voiceovers; anything that has cinematic value.

2. Frequent collaborations with actors –

Given that his films study their characters deeply, Scorsese expects his actors to be in top form. He prefers actors with the requisite skills whom he can trust. Which explains his frequent collaborations with Robert Di Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio. Di Niro has featured in ten Scorsese films since 1973 (Mean Streets) and Caprio has been part of six. Both are part of his latest offering.

3. Violent themes –

Growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the 40s and 50s New York, Scorsese had seen violence up close. He saw how it became a part of the daily life of people. Thus, violence is an important part of most of his films. As a filmmaker by choosing characters who are always on the edge, he gives himself a lot to play with and explore. However, he doesn’t stick to a certain style to show violence. In Gangs of New York and Goodfellas, the violence is brutal. In Killers, while the act of committing murders is violent, death has a certain calmness about it. Let’s take a scene from the film –

When Mollie’s sister’s house is bombed; chaos ensues. People dig through the rubble frantically to find the bodies. But when the sister’s body is found Scorsese infuses fantasy into the screenplay by using the elements; in this case fire. The faces of the dead are calm in Killers. All of them. You find parallels to this scene in Scorsese’s 2010 psychological thriller Shutter Island, where he uses surrealism to evoke gloom.

According to Thelma Schoonmaker, his editor since the 1980s, he shows violence differently now compared to his earlier films. Moving from tight close ups (Goodfellas, Raging Bull) to wide shots (The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon). This might be a result of Scorsese evolving as a human being. His understanding of violence and death may have changed. A New York Times article describes a murder scene in The Irishman as “framed wide, hard and fast — simple, bloody, done”.

4. Production design –

Production design (costume and sets) plays an important part in Scorsese’s film. They help him build believable worlds that his characters inhabit. The eye for detail is always immaculate in his films. It’s the same in Killers as it was in Casino or Hugo or The Aviator. The subjects of these films were vastly different, but by building authentic worlds he keeps the audience invested in his stories.

5. Editing and Cinematography –

Countless images and sequences from Scorsese’s films have inspired many filmmakers over the years. His freeze frames, sped-up footage, long takes, long tracking shots, montages, and slow-motion sequences have created cinematic moments that have stayed in the minds of cinephiles.  But his editing techniques do not have a sameness. In Casino, The Departed, and The Wolf of Wall Street, he resorts to quick cuts and jump cuts to convey the required information or to be in tune with the energy of the film.

In Killers he is in no hurry. The pace is deliberately slow, at least in the beginning, picking up pace gradually towards the end. He trusts his audience to hang in there and stay invested. The nature of the crime shown in the film required this pacing; slow but menacing. Getting this balance right was the trick. It took me a while to understand this aspect while watching the film (a point I had raised earlier).

6. Music –

Scorsese is known to have compiled several music pieces since his teenage years. He has used them in his films wherever he deemed fit. He is also known to use pop music, rock n roll, instrumentals etc. He uses music to enhance narratives and depict the arc of his characters. They may not be his personal choice of music. Again, there is no sameness when it comes to music. But music is an integral part of his films.

In Killers the music is minimalistic. Just drum beats mostly to create the dread, and to convey the impending doom. In the happier moments, like when the Osage discover oil, he uses classic rock. It works.

So in light of the above findings, what did I make of the Killers of the Flower Moon?

Is it the directors’ best work? Maybe not.

Is it compelling cinema? Absolutely yes.

I think it is another feather in the cap of the visionary filmmaker who is aging like fine wine.

What is the Martin Scorsese signature style of filmmaking? I don’t think he has one, unlike many of his contemporaries, which is what makes him unique.

The only recurring feature of his films is how he studies his characters deeply. The rest is fluid, often taking the style of the technicians and artists he is collaborating with, be it editing, cinematography, music, or production design. The signature for him is not as important as the story that needs to be told. And there is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has told some powerful stories and given us cinephiles many iconic characters over the years.

Ending with another quote of his –

“Your job is to get the audience to care about your obsessions.”

About the author –

Siddhartha Krishnan is the author of “Two and a Half Rainbows – A Collection of Short Stories”. He is also an enthusiastic blogger and, on his website, http://www.whatsonsidsmind.com, he puts out his essays, articles, travelogues and film reviews.

Source reading material –

Studio Binder

New York Times