Balzac once said—
Behind every fortune, there is sin.
Over the years, we have witnessed or experienced too many social hotspots of a bad nature, but there are no more social hotspots.
Every time I gaze at human nature, I always think of this sentence.
When public sentiment cools, when the flame of public opinion dies out, the bloodthirsty wolf will retreat and dive into the darkness again.
It was not that human beings more than a century ago were ignorant of these truths.
But the catastrophe happened easily...
Time goes back to the United States in 1921.
In the south-central state of Oklahoma, there is a place called Osage.
Murders are rampant here, like an epidemic.
Poisoning, drowning, shooting, explosion...
The victims all have one thing in common: the Indians.
Paradoxically, these cases are not difficult to handle, but the official has not officially launched an investigation, either casually catching a scapegoat, or reaching a conclusion of "suicide" and hastily closing the case.
Even the private detective who spent a lot of money to hire disappeared mysteriously...
Everyone in the Osaich tribe is at risk.
How desperate is it to go?
Every night, every family hangs a light at the door to avoid being murdered...
At the same time, another strange incident came into view.
Indian women were plagued by strange diseases one after another.
Their husbands are all white men.
Bad luck is like a curse, hanging over many large families.
Rumor has it that most of the Osage people don't live to be 50 years old...
The situation is confusing, but the truth is about to come out again-
The Indians of Osage, were hunted.
More than a century later, at the age of 81, Martin Scorsese has torn apart this national scar and brought a piece of American history that it most wanted to delete on the big screen.
Top audiovisual, top lineup.
The last blockbuster of 2023.
There are must-see Oscar seeded players.
It was introduced and then canceled.,It's finally here-
"Flower Moon Hands"
"Flower Moon Killer" is Martin Sr.'s 27th work.
The cast is still explosive.
The male lead, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Xiao Lizi has many representatives made by the old Martin: "The Aviator", "Infernal Affairs", "Shutter Island", "The Wolf of Wall Street"...
Old Martin is also a master and a father for Xiao Lizi.
The two are also about to usher in their 7th collaboration.
Stills from "Infernal Affairs".
Stills from "Shutter Island".
Male supporting role, Robert De Niro.
is undoubtedly a powerful Hollywood faction, and a male god in the hearts of countless people.
Beginning with 1973's "Bad Streets", De Niro and Martin Sr. achieved each other and established a deep revolutionary friendship.
With one look and one action, you can understand the other person's thoughts in seconds.
De Niro and Martin Sr. on the set of "Taxi Driver".
A still from "Raging Bull".
Some netizens quipped: The two old men have entered the golden wedding (50 years of cooperation)...
A movie that gathers two generations of lovers shows the importance of Martin Sr.
Above: De Niro and Martin Sr
Pictured below: Little Plum and Old Martin
One thing is worth mentioning.
1993's "A Boy's Life" is Xiao Lizi's screen debut, De Niro plays Xiao Lizi's stepfather, and abuses Xiao Lizi a lot in the film.
Later, Martin Sr. planned to film "Gangs of New York".
De Niro introduced Little Plum to Old Martin, and inadvertently contributed to another film history story...
30 years later, "Killer of the Flower Moon".
80-year-old De Niro and 49-year-old Xiao Li Zi are on the same stage, and the relationship between the characters is similar to that of the year.
Xiao Lizi said frankly that the psychological shadow of his youth was activated at once, and he easily entered the role state.
At this age, with such an achievement, Martin Sr. no longer needs to bother to please the audience.
Focusing on self-expression in art is inevitably the focus of creation.
So, we saw a 206-minute, nearly three-and-a-half-hour on-screen crime mystery film with an anti-climactic narrative.
The old man's willfulness, stubbornness, and rebellion can be seen...
This is an era of chasing "short, flat and fast".
The audience has become Xi to the rhythm of watching a movie in 3 minutes.
There are fewer and fewer people who are really willing to spend three and a half hours walking into the cinema to enjoy a serious historical feature film...
Although it was a miserable box office, Douban scored an incomprehensible 7.3.
But I still think that the only Oscar that can wrestle with "Oppenheimer" a few months later is this "Flower Moon Killer".
Because, it's worthy of being called a "movie" when it's made like this...
This film is born out of the non-fiction work of American writer David Grayne, "Killer of the Flower Moon: The Murders of Osage and the Birth of the FBI".
Original cover
The original book unfolds from the perspective of FBI agent Tom White, and the original script also advanced along this line.
Xiao Lizi plays the upright Tom White.
Tom White in the movie is played by Jesse Plemon
Later, Xiao Lizi felt that this role was too ordinary, so he discussed with Old Martin and wanted to play a different role.
From a macro point of view, Lao Martin also feels that if he continues to shoot like this, the finished film is not much different from ordinary police and gangster movies, and the food is tasteless.
In the end, they excavated an inconspicuous couple from the original book, and only then did they have their current perspective.
Although the viewing threshold of "Flower Moon Killer" is not as high as that of "Oppenheimer", the film has a fragmentary explanation of the background of the times.
But the story of the Indians is too far away from us.
There is some information to know in advance...
In 1803, then-U.S. President Jefferson bought Louisiana from the French, and the land on which the Osage people depended.
Four years later, Jefferson trampled on his promise of peaceful coexistence and forced the Osage to give up large tracts of land and move to a small "reservation" in Kansas.
In the early 70s of the 19th century, the Osage was again expelled.
In the name of purifying barbarism, the colonists did all the barbaric things: digging up ancestral graves, scalping, mutilating corpses...
Eventually, the Osage people bought a new reservation in northeastern Oklahoma for 70 cents per acre.
The story told in "Flower Moon Killer" takes place here.
The Osage Settlement on the New Reservation
Whites scoff at this barren and rocky land.
Migration, hunger, infectious diseases...
The number of Osage people, who have been infested countless times, has plummeted to about 3,000.
Decades have passed.
The Osage suddenly found that he had been chosen by fate-
At their feet, there is the largest oil field in the United States.
Rents and mining land royalties created enormous wealth for the Osage people, and in 1923 alone, the tribe received $30 million.
Counting inflation, that's the equivalent of $400 million now!
The Osage became the richest people per capita at the time.
Workers drill for oil on the territory of Osage
What does it look like to be rich?
At that time, the average 11 Americans owned a car.
But every Osage owns 11 cars.
The men are well-dressed, the women are bejeweled, the children attend the best private schools, and each mansion is tended by several servants...
There are even some white people who come here to do manual work that the Osage people are not happy to do.
The original book describes the prosperous scene at that time like this-
The streets are bustling with Northwest cowboys, opportunists, moonshiners, soothsayers, charlatans, outlaws, American marshals, New York brokers, and oil tycoons.
Cars whizzed along the masonry roads, and the prairie smelled of oil everywhere. Flocks of crows line across the telephone lines overlook the restaurants, cafés, theatres and polo fields below.
The legend of getting rich overnight has made white capitalists red-eyed.
Arrogant, they could not accept a group of "savage red people" who were judged to have no tomorrow, turn the situation around, and quickly accumulate wealth.
In an era of rampant racism, a black person would be officially identified as white because he was too wealthy.
The counterattack of the Osage people was soon stained with blood...
Old Martin did not make "The Killer of the Flower Moon" a national epic.
Not even the grandiose spectacle is shown too much.
Rather, it is to use the perspective of individuals and families to peek into the saddest page of the history of the Indians.
As the saying goes, suffering cannot be quantified, and numbers have no temperature.
Only by telling the stories of specific people can we shorten the distance between time and space and arouse emotional ripples...
Technical level -
The use of black-and-white images and silent film subtitles.
Mysterious customs and rituals are presented.
An uplifted shot of the Osage man dancing naked as the oil gushes out.
and the tone of percussion and oil painting texture full of national characteristics.
All create a unique sense of historical heaviness...
At the beginning of the film, Old Martin completed the explanation of the relationship between the characters in just 5 minutes of dialogue.
With a few brushstrokes, the outline of the character is easily outlined.
Hale (De Niro), the big boss behind the film.
Twenty years ago, he came to Osage in rags, armed with nothing but a torn Bible.
He found a job as a cowboy.
The nomadic life of eating and sleeping in the open made him suffer...
After that, he took his savings and bank loans and bought a ranch in Osych, but it didn't take long for him to go bankrupt.
On the contrary, Hale became more and more courageous, and started from scratch again.
45,000 acres of high-quality pastures transformed him into a capitalist who did not rely on the oil industry to make his fortune.
He donated money to build schools and hospitals, and was the most prestigious white man in the hearts of the locals.
He was also designated as a "deputy sergeant alternate"...
Hale's wealth and power also attracted a number of politicians.
They knew they couldn't win the election without winning Hale's favor.
For this reason, Hale was called by the Osage people: the king of the mountains.
The above is just the "sheepskin" that Hale wears on his body.
What does the real Hale look like?
Mercenary, ruthless, and well versed in the unspoken rules of the white world.
Relying on the privileges brought by his status, he plotted a series of murders and greedily harvested the wealth of the Osagens...
Ernest (Little Plum) is Hale's nephew.
Typical mediocre little people.
He used to be a cook in an infantry regiment, but because his intestines were pierced, he couldn't do heavy work for the rest of his life.
So I can only work as a coachman in Osage.
Hale asked him with concern—
Like women?
Do you wear a condom for sex on the front line?
Did you get any disease?
Is it still mentally healthy after the war?
At first glance, it sounds like an earnest greeting from the elders when they reunite after a long absence.
But in fact, the thoughtful Hale is backtracking his next plan.
At that time, all Osage people who were included in the genealogical directory were recognized as full members and enjoyed "head rights".
Capitation rights, i.e., the right to allocate tribal mineral resource funds.
It can be simply understood as dividends.
Capitation rights are forbidden to be bought and sold, but inheritance is permitted.
So, white people like Hale, who coveted Osage's wealth, had an opportunity...
Hale has his eye on Molly (Lily Gladstone).
She has pure Osage blood.
Let Ernest intermarry Molly first.
Getting rid of her sisters and mother, the capitation power, which symbolizes great wealth, will belong to her alone.
And the final destination is Hale's greedy pocket.
It's a legitimate business that is sure to make money and don't lose money.
And it has been successfully practiced many times...
Ernest happily agreed.
In this way, a speculator who has never gained a sense of identity, robbed, gambled, and cheated insurance, was led into a beast by the thoughtful Hale...
The author of the original book once said-
This is not a "who is guilty" story.
It's a story of "who is innocent".
If you shoot from the perspective of an FBI agent, it is estimated that in the first few minutes, the audience will be able to guess who the murderer is.
Compared to presenting the spectacle of serial murders, Old Martin obviously has a deeper expression.
On the one hand, of course, to speak for the Indians.
The repeatedly compressed living space and the tragic murder tragedy are a powerful indictment of the "American dream" of that era...
Let the dusty past be seen by more people, and let the Indian tribes return to the historical order, is the greatest value of "Flower Moon Killer" to the United States.
The head of the Osaich tribe - Vatianka
On the other hand, Martin Sr. is talking about the greed and depravity of human nature.
Hale, in the past, relied on his own hands to fight for the world.
No matter how you tell it, it's an inspirational story.
What reshaped him?
It's desire.
It was desire that awakened the man-eating wolf in his heart.
Is there love between Ernest and Molly?
In real life, Molly's granddaughter once said that Ernest and Molly were indeed deeply in love with each other.
But what we see is that Ernest added chronic poison to Molly's insulin for profit, and it was Ernest who participated in the killing of Molly's relatives again and again for profit...
Is distorted love called love?
Everyone's answer is different.
Hale, whose hands are stained with sin, is just a microcosm.
He would go to the police station to turn himself in without hesitation when the incident happened from the window, because the wealth and connections he had in his hands were enough to reverse the decline and change the situation...
He would tell Ernest in prison not to be on his side, because public opinion will only be in an uproar for a while, and people will soon forget what happened to Osage...
Isn't this the story of "ghost grinding" and "grinding ghosts"?
The film realistically reproduces the living conditions of the Osage people.
For example, white people will dig up the graveyards of the Osage.
Loot the burial goods inside the coffin...
For example, white people buy insurance for the Osage and then kill them.
Fraudulent use of this method to obtain high compensation...
For example, the funeral of an Osaic is several times more expensive than that of a white one.
A coffin sells for $1,650...
For example, the federal government believes that the Osage people don't know how to manage money.
So the "guardian" system was established.
The Osage people had to apply to a white guardian to buy a bar of soap...
And these are the chapters that the United States desperately wants to remove from the history books.
Old Martin said in an interview -
It's a movie made for the big screen.
It gives the United States an opportunity for introspection.
The same is true for all of humanity.
Just because the truth is uncomfortable doesn't mean you can be forgotten...
I think that's what makes a good director.
That's one of the reasons why we fall in love with movies.
At the end of the film, Old Martin used a stage play to explain the follow-up story of "Flower Moon Killer".
Hale, the mastermind behind the scenes, was sentenced to life in prison.
He was later released in 1947 after bribing politicians.
At the age of 87, he died in a nursing home...
Hale with his wife and daughter
Ernest, sentenced to life in prison.
Pardoned years later...
Ernest
Molly has been living on the reserve since she remarried.
On June 16, 1937, he died of diabetes.
Molly
Her obituary is simple.
Announced by Martin Sr. breaking the "fourth wall" -
Ms. Molly Burckhardt, 50.
At 11 p.m. on Wednesday, he died at home.
She has pure Osage blood.
Buried in the old cemetery of the Grey Horse community.
Buried next to father, mother, sister and daughter...
There is no mention of the murderer.
Writing this, I am reminded of a storm a few years ago.
At the time, Martin Sr. said that Marvel movies were more like theme parks than the "movies" that he loved for life.
Movie和Cinema之辩，让老马丁挨了不少骂。
What was the cinema in Martin Sr.'s mind?
It is an aesthetic, emotional, spiritual revelation.
It's the complexity of human beings and their contrasting and sometimes contradictory nature, the way they can hurt each other, love each other, and suddenly confront themselves.
In my opinion, the difference between Movie and Cinema is like the difference between grape juice and red wine.
Looking back on the scolding war, perhaps we all owe Old Martin an apology.
After watching "Flower Moon Killer", I felt a wave of sadness in my heart...
Look at the four "movie kids" in Hollywood.
Francis Ford Coppola, who filmed "The Godfather", is about to be 85 years old...
Martin Scorsese, 81 years old, who filmed New York and the gangs thoroughly...
George Lucas, who created the "Star Wars" series, is about to enter the "post-80s" club...
Steven Spielberg, the youngest of the four and the first director in film history to have a total box office of more than $10 billion, is also 77 years old...
Only Martin Sr. and Spielberg are still working on Cinema.
The era they represent will eventually come to an end.
Movies don't die.
But.
Where is the next cinema?