{"id":27263,"date":"2023-10-19T20:25:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T03:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27263"},"modified":"2023-10-19T20:25:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T03:25:24","slug":"killers-of-the-flower-moon-is-lengthy-and-solemn-but-still-lingers-in-the-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27263","title":{"rendered":"KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Is Lengthy and Solemn, But Still Lingers in the Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time:  206 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Paramount Pictures and Apple Original\nFilms opens exclusively in theaters on October 20th<\/sup>. A streaming\nrelease date through Apple TV+ has yet to be announced.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legendary director Martin Scorsese has made his fair share\nof lengthy epics, including Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York, The\nAviator, The Departed<\/em> and The Wolf of Wall Street<\/em> among many others.\nHis previous feature, The Irishman<\/em>, was his most detailed and extended\ntale, running three-and-a-half hours in length. While one might have guessed\nthe filmmaker\u2019s next project might be shorter and more intimate, the\n80-year-old director’s latest is almost as long. Killers of the Flower Moon<\/em>\nis a grim and solemn retelling of the series of Osage Nation murders that\noccurred in Oklahoma between the 1910s and 1930s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film begins by introducing viewers to the Osage Nation,\nwhose land sits above vast oil deposits. They were the richest people in the\ncountry, but their cash flow was still controlled in part by the US government\nthrough a guardianship program. When war veteran Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo\nDiCaprio) arrives and meets with his uncle William King Hale (Robert De Niro),\nhe discovers this \u201cguardian\u201d has a controlling interest in the bank and\ninfluence over physicians, businesses and the lives of every resident. Ernest\ntakes a job as a cab driver and quickly falls for local Mollie Burkhart (Lily\nGladstone), intimating that he is ready to settle down and live a quiet life.\nHowever, it soon becomes clear that there is a horrifying conspiracy afoot. As\nevents progress, the lives of Mollie\u2019s sisters Anna (Cara Jade Myers) and\nMinnie (Jillian Dion), her mother (Tantoo Cardinal), cousins and extended family\nare all at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s a difficult story to tell when primary lead Ernest is\nso deeply flawed. However, DiCaprio and the rest of the cast are exceptional.\nThe lead performer somehow manages to keep viewers intrigued in the figure and\nwhether or not he might see the light of day and make amends for his actions.\nGladstone possesses incredible poise and strength in the role of Mollie, also\nhelping viewers get a clearer sense of how an immensely wealthy woman would\nagree to marry a white man whose intentions may not be entirely pure. And, of\ncourse, De Niro is a standout as Hale, the self-proclaimed \u201cKing of the Osage\u201d.\nHe rarely raises his voice in the first two-thirds of the picture, but exerts a\ncontrol and intensity that commands the screen throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As expected, the photography by frequent Scorsese\ncollaborator Rodrigo Prieto is also top-notch. The imagery of the Osage people\nand their connection to the wildlife is beautiful to witness, as are the\nbustling streets filled with both the wealthy, as well as conniving business\nowners and crooks. As always, there are some lengthy master shots (and a few\nthat have well-hidden edits within) and camera roams around on occasion,\nkeeping viewers engaged in many conversations between individuals within a\nsingle environment. The violence depicted in the film, including several\nmurders, are brief, blunt and appropriately jarring in their coldhearted\nexecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The filmmaker definitely wants to tell the complete story of\nwhat occurred. And it\u2019s a virtuous gesture to go through the specific details\nof exactly what happened to most of the victims. However, there are a few\nrepetitive acts that upon first viewing seem like they could have been\nabbreviated or eliminated. Additionally, the first section is focused primarily\non Ernest and Mollie, the middle unveiling the full scheme being perpetrated,\nand the final segments dealing with repercussions via courtroom drama. Yes,\nthere are some cutaways here and there to past events (showing a couple of past\nevents or explicitly what happened in regards to a murder), but the\nstraightforward presentation of events and somber tone do weigh things down,\nrequiring patience on the part of the viewer to see this story reach its\ndestination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But overall, this is a minor complaint. It may run long, but\nthe movie still manages to hold one\u2019s attention for the entirety of the running\ntime. It\u2019s an important story, beautifully acted and filmed with great\nprecision and care. If you\u2019re willing to commit the equivalent of sitting\nthrough a double-feature to take in one single film, the skill and artistry of Killers\nof the Flower Moon<\/em> should satisfy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time:  206 minutes This feature from Paramount Pictures and Apple Original Films opens exclusively in theaters on October 20th. A streaming release date through Apple TV+ has yet to be announced. Legendary director Martin Scorsese has made his fair share of lengthy epics, including Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,678,1651,1654,2112,6251,7010,11733,11734,11735,11736,12256,12413,13322,15305,15492,15493,15707,17149],"class_list":["post-27263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-academy-awards","tag-apple-original-films","tag-apple-tv","tag-awards-contended","tag-drama","tag-epic","tag-killers-of-the-flower-moon","tag-killers-of-the-flower-moon-film-review","tag-killers-of-the-flower-moon-movie-review","tag-killers-of-the-flower-moon-review","tag-leonardo-dicaprio","tag-lily-gladstone","tag-martin-scorsese","tag-oklahoma","tag-osage","tag-osage-nation","tag-paramount-pictures","tag-robert-de-niro"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}