MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski saw Killers of the Flower Moon in the cinema a week ago. Since then, Martin Scorsese’s new film hasn’t let her go. He’s been hurting ever since.
When I think of the expulsion of Native Americans, I see a cruel and primitive image in my mind. They were attacked, murdered, raped and robbed of their property.
After watching Killers of the Flower Moon, I realized that my thoughts about these acts were too simple and simplistic. That alone makes the film worthwhile.
He was able to broaden my horizons and allow me to delve deeper into a dark corner of humanity to better understand it.
I can tell you right now that you won’t leave the film feeling good. At least it made me thoughtful and sad.
Exactly a week ago I saw Martin Scorsese’s film in the cinema and since then not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about the fate of the Osage again. The indigenous tribe in question.
Trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon
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Mafia-like structures that no one has to hide well
Even though Killers of the Flower Moon is three and a half hours long, I was captivated the entire time by the drama unfolding before me.
The story is based on the Osage murders that occurred between 1910 and 1930 in connection with the oil that brought the tribe amazing wealth.
The sober facts are known.
However, Scorsese tells the story from the perspective of the murderers and victims of the Osage tribe. He gives the historical figures a world of emotions, conversations and actions that one can only imagine today. The victims’ descendants themselves worked closely with Scorsese to create an authentic picture of their tribe and the events.
The focus is on how vilely the Osages were stripped of their property and identity. Through marriage fraud and a series of murders that left an estimated 60 people dead. Thanks to strange new laws that meant adult Osages needed a guardian to get their money.
The film shows how obvious and clumsy the crimes were committed.
Whether someone blows up an entire house with gigantic explosive force, which definitely couldn’t have been a simple gas leak. Whether a murder is “disguised” as a suicide with a pistol and the bullet hole is at an angle from which no one can shoot themselves in the head.
Coroners who shrug their shoulders at these crimes. But oh, they were involved too.
Nothing had to be well disguised. Nobody had to act particularly cleverly.
Neither the mafia structures that made the fraud possible nor the direct crimes. Nobody cared because most people profited from the Osage’s murders.
Martin Scorsese himself said of Killers of the Flower Moon: “It’s not a whodunit. It’s a who-didn’t-do-it.”
It’s not about who did it. It’s about who didn’t do it.