The 2023 movies that everyone seems to be talking about most areBarbieandOppenheimer, and while those films are fantastic, we can’t forget aboutKillers of the Flower Moon. This gargantuan crime saga, period drama, thriller mashup comes from legendary filmmakerMartin Scorsese, the brain behind at least one of your favorite movies. It might not have made the same cultural impact as “Barbenheimer,” but itgrossed a pretty hefty $156 million, and wasnominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Scorsese himself (his tenth time in this category).
That being said, you probably won’t have an easy time guessing the influences brought toKillers. While Westerns and crime dramas appear to have had an obvious impact, one of its biggest indirect creative informants isAri Aster. That’s right, ofHereditaryfame.Scorsese has gone on recordrecently as a fan of the young filmmaker. When it came to making his most recent picture, Scorsese pulled from Aster’s last two projects,MidsommarandBeau Is Afraid, particularly citing their shared approach to pacing. These feel like odd choices, to say the least. However, Aster’s cinematic worlds get to breathe in ways that most others don’t, whether that be because of their patient narratives or the looseness that their longer runtimes provide. Any way you roll it, once you start digging deeper than the killer cults andmommy issues of Aster’s works, you can really start to feel his touch on Scorsese’s latest masterpiece.
Killers of the Flower Moon
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
What Is Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ About?
Killers of the Flower Moontakes place in 1920s Oklahoma andfollows a series of murdersafter oil is discovered on Osage Nation land. In it,Leonardo DiCaprioplays Ernest Burkhart, a bit of a dimwitted character who basically does whatever he’s told. He soon marries Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), a member of the Osage Nation, but his uncle, William King Hale (Robert De Niro), has much more sinister intentions for the two. As it stands,this is an astounding monument that represents the full potential of movies. Not only is it a gripping, highly entertaining stew of several genres, but it’s an important film that explores a tragic chapter of our country’s history. Everyone knew that DiCaprioand De Niro would kill it, but it’sLily Gladstone’s performancethat you’ll be floored by.
‘Midsommar’ and ‘Beau Is Afraid’ Have Specific Pacing
Killers of the Flower Moondoesn’t exactly have the most obvious influences. It’s doubtful that many would have placed their bets on a folk horror movie and a surrealist black comedy as shaping this one, but Marty would like to inform you otherwise. In a 2023 interview withThe Irish Times, Scorsese said, “I very much like the style and pacing of good horror films like Ari Aster’sMidsommarorBeau Is Afraid. The pacing of those films goes back to the B-films ofVal Lewton,Jacques Tourneur’sCat PeopleorI Walked With a Zombie. Just going a little slower. A little quieter.” WhileBeau Is Afraidisn’t exactly the quietest movie that Aster has ever made, it’s his slowest — intentionally too. The narrative takes audiences on a long and tedious pilgrimage with Beau to see the world outside his seedy little apartment. We aren’t just meant to flash by various regions and plot lines though. Aster wants us to bask in them, as does Scorsese in his picture.
Martin Scorsese Directed Robert De Niro’s Most Terrifying Role Ever
Scorsese directed Robert De Niro in one of his scariest, most haunting performances to date.
Scorsese elaborated on his intentions withKillers, stating, “I was very concerned about allowing scenes that were not narrative into the story, scenes to do with the Osage culture — leaving in those scenes of custom, like the baby namings, the funerals and the weddings — so we could begin to understand a little more about the people. I felt confident that a lot of people would allow themselves to be immersed in the world of the film. One has to take these chances. At this age, what else can I do?“Midsommar, on the other hand, is all about discovering the practices of another culture.The only difference is that the cult in Aster’s picture has menacing customs that they present to Dani (Florence Pugh) and the audience, whereas the Osage Nation’s conventions are lovely, and displayed in a respectful, detailed fashion.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Takes Time to Explore the Culture
When you take into account the fact that Scorsese tried to carve out time for audiences to experience Osage culture,theMidsommarinfluencestarts to make a lot more sense. While Ari Aster’s disturbing 2019 picture mostly bombards audiences withone shocking image after the next, it also takes plenty of time to slow down and explore the villainous cult’s practices. Aster feeds us their food, their mind-altering substances, throws us into a dance circle, and unfortunately, makes us watch their lovely cliff-jumping routine.To a much less terrifying extent, Scorsese does the same in his movie.A great deal of the movie is spent with DiCaprio and De Niro’s characters as they navigate the next steps of their sinister plan, but there’s also a hefty chunk that we spend watching the Osage living their lives. We get to experience their wedding ceremonies, their funerals, their town celebrations, and more.
Martin Scorsese & Ari Aster Focus on World Building
Allowing audiences to immerse themselves in the world of a movie is hugely important to getting people invested. That being said, depending on the length of your runtime, that might not be so easy.Midsommarclocks inat 2 hours and 28 minutes — just long enough that you may’t just casually fire it up, but long enough that Aster has the privilege of exploring the world of this Swedish cult. That said, his follow-up,Beau Is Afraid, is nothing but a meandering exploration of its own world, made all the easier by its 2-hour and 59-minute runtime.Beau Is Afraidworks so well because it lets us soak in the world around Beau.We get to experience the chaotic streets that are just outside his front door, walk with him through various topical animated environments, meet the forest theater troupe, and go to the film’s odd and final location.This movie is about the journeyrather than the destination. WhileKillersis not a movie that’s about the journey, it does allow itself to go on a pretty lofty one.
By taking this quiet and slow approach that Scorsese cites,Killersis allowed to take time and explore various elements that aren’t absolutely essential to the core story. This is obviously an attribute of many of his movies, be itGoodfellas,TheWolf of Wall Street, orSilence, but it’s fascinating to hear that he thought about Ari Aster’s oddball third feature while making this period piece. Many other filmmakers would have made this movie and probably focused solely on Mollie Burkhart’s (Gladstone) story, or Ernest Burkhart’s (DiCaprio), streamlining things and probably resulting in a more conventional runtime. Given the richness of their individual tales, that would likely still result in a good movie.Taking theBeau Is Afraidapproach allows the movie to breathe and let these characters live. Not just in a pocket of their existence, but over a lengthy period.
There’s a reason that audiences havereacted so strongly toKillers of the Flower Moon. By the time the credits roll, we walk away feeling like we know everyone inside the movie. Martin Scorsese’s love forthe movies of Ari Asterproves that there is value in all art. That’s an easy thing to say about someone who’s asacclaimed as Ari Aster, but he’s not the first person that many would guess to inspire someone as legendary as Scorsese.MidsommarandBeau Is Afraidaren’t just epic genre movies. Aside from their exceptional performances and shocking moments, these are two movies that are clearly informed by classic cinema, with an attention to detail and patience that is more in line withAkira Kurosawathan most modern horror releases. Never turn your nose at any genre, because you never know what you might take from it.
Killers of the Flower Moonis available on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
Watch on Apple TV+
