OUT OF COMPETITION – Presented in world preview on the Croisette, the great fresco on the misfortunes of an Indian tribe in Oklahoma by the filmmaker, will be released in theaters on October 18.
By
Eric Neuhoff
Published update
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The Great American Novel is a film. This white whale, the writers there had been chasing in vain for decades. Martin Scorsese had to devote himself. He hit the moon with Killers of the Flower Moon. Suddenly, the Croisette came to attention as a single man. Respect. Scorsese was there, faithful to the post. Had enough of illegal workers, bearded women, exploited migrants? Had enough of suicidal cops and teachers threatened with disciplinary action? Here is plenty of space and extraordinary destinies, mind-blowing breath and ambition as if it were raining. Don’t throw any more.
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A brief reminder of the facts. Uprooted from their original lands by the government of the time, the Osage tribes were allocated arid lands in Oklahoma that would later turn out to be full of oil. It’s a godsend. It is a disaster. The Indians are crumbling under mountains of money. They take advantage of their wealth, but are put under guardianship. They trust easily, sign contracts without reading them. Whites will invent a whole host of ways to strip them, marriage to a squaw being the most reliable method.
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Widespread corruption
The First World War ends. Ernest Buckhart returns from the front. His is low. This sloth has only one goal: to party all night and sleep during the day. This program has its limitations. You have to see what it was like, Oklahoma in those years. The crook swarms. The assassin swarms. The prize goes to Ernest’s uncle who reigns over the region. Scruples hardly suffocate him. The simpleton nephew becomes a driver, marries Mollie, with his long braid and his colorful blankets. She has diabetes. It hits the spot. Normally, his days are numbered. The brave Ernest injects him with insulin mixed with poison. Around them, the victims number in the dozens. Inheritances change hands. Notaries are not idle. The impassive Mollie has already lost her mother and two of her sisters. She doesn’t know she’s next on the list. This carnage ends up worrying the locals. A trip to Washington is a must. Meeting President Coolidge will not remain without effect. The FBI, which is in its infancy, is dispatching its members to the area. It disturbs the order of things, ie insurance scams, arson, brutal deaths hidden under the carpet, explosions of all kinds. This verifies that morality does not have its own napkin ring in the midst of this generalized corruption.
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Martin Scorsese reflects on his country’s original sin. It deserved such a fresco. We immerse ourselves in this saga as we go down a river. The flow transports us. History scrolls past, impenetrable. Leonardo DiCaprio has weight and presence. He plays dumb with contagious jubilation. His face expresses the most varied torments. His wrinkles signal concern. Her sulky pout has several versions. A burst of honesty will not succeed in saving the little soul he has left.
As a villainous godfather, Robert DeNiro is sovereign. It’s a block of villainy, Evil in its purest form, the raised mouth in a circumflex accent, masking a ton of contempt or suppressed anger. In a few seconds, the actor erases the batch of antics to which he has accustomed us with his stepfather and me.
These Atrides in stetson existed for good. Scorsese was inspired by the investigation signed David Grann. The mythology is there, with a final sequence where the director appears in the flesh. The past is a devastated plain, an expanse of infinite desolation. In the streets of Fairfaix, contraband whiskey circulated by the gallons. The brothels were always full. The doctors were crooked, the sheriffs corrupt. Killers of the Flower Moon has something peaceful, obvious. The film is full as an egg. Martin Scorsese salutes you. Cinema continues to be his natural language. The room is full. Yet each spectator is isolated, in his bubble, as if the film was specially addressed to him. We are no longer there for anyone, with the certainty of finding ourselves in front of a major work. It lasts two hundred and six minutes. Time passes like a dream. And that’s how great Scorsese is.
The opinion of Figaro: 4/4
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Killers of the Flower Moon, History of Martin Scorsese. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone.
Duration: 3 h 26. Theatrical release on October 18.