Killers of the Flower Moon
Summary
In 1872 settlers and the US federal government forced the Osage Nation from their ancestral lands to a reservation site in present-day Oklahoma. There they would become known as God’s Chosen people of Chance and the wealthiest peoples per capita in the world for many years. This is because the Osage ensured they had access to mineral rights in their land treaties; they did not just have rights to their land, but to everything underneath their land including the oil on their reservation. Killers of the Flower Moon closely follows a settler family in the 1920s who organize a crime ring to murder Osage people for their money and land rights. Uncle William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro), an older white man who lives closely with the Osage and knows the Osage language, considers himself King of the Osage Hills. His nephew Ernest Burkeharte (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from World War I and moves to Oklahoma to work in the booming economy of Osage county. This is when Ernest Burkeharte ‘falls in love with’ and marries Mollie Clarke (Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman who lives with and cares for her aging mother. “King” Hale convinces Ernest he will earn more head rights, or oil money, if Mollie’s family dies.After their marriage, Mollie’s eldest sister, Anna Brown (Cara Jade Myers), is mysteriously murdered. At the same time, an Osage man is also found murdered. This sparks great concern amongst the Osage and they petition to send a representative to DC who is also mysteriously murdered. Many more Osage are killed, including Mollie’s last remaining sister, Reeta (Janae Collins), and her husband. Mollie Burkeharte chooses to go to DC and petition President Calvin Coolidge for federal help. Throughout this time, Mollie Burkeharte is sick with diabetes and receiving insulin as treatment. “King” Hale convinces Ernest to poison her insulin as a way of slowing Mollie down. The Bureau of Investigation eventually sends an investigator to Fairfax, Oklahoma who discovers William Hale as the crime ring leader organizing the murders of the Osage. Ernest struggles to agree to testify against his uncle, but after his and Mollie’s youngest daughter, Anna, dies of whooping cough, he agrees to testify.
The film ends with limited "justice" for the Osage Nation. Over 60 Osage people were mysteriously murdered for their oil rights. Still, William Hale and Ernest Burkeharte are both released from prison on parole after years of incarceration despite Osage protesting the parole board.
Oil Imagery in Killers of the Flower Moon
The opening scene of Killers of the Flower Moon is an acknowledgement of death but not of human people. Rather, the Osage elders gather and experience a mournful burial of a ceremonial pipe. This pipe is given agency, called a pipe person, and given a burial to indicate the burial of traditional Osage ways. The Elders understand younger generations will not have access to Osage tradition due to the monumental changes they have experienced and are expecting. As Osage dig a grave for this tradition, a geyser of oil erupts from the land. This swift change, from laying the pipe, tradition, into the ground, to the eruption of oil, the blood of the Earth, from the ground shows the massive change the Osage themselves will experience. As this geyser of oil erupts, Osage people dance in the oil drenching themselves in the dark liquid and celebrating the eruption. There is an understanding of the profit and wealth they live upon and will soon have access to. However, this oil, the blood of the Earth, flows freely and soon Osage blood runs freely because of the oil. The burial of the traditional ways makes room for the greed, envy, and violence of new, White, settler ways that the oil money brings to the Osage.This eruption of oil is a response to the mourning of the traditional ways of Osage life. The Earth hears the Osage lament and replies. The geyser of oil from the ground is celebrated and provokes dancing and cheering from the Osage, excitement for the wealth to come and the exciting ways the Osage can enter “American culture.” However, the violent eruption might also be understood as a warning or an emotional outburst from the Earth. While the Osage perform a burial and acknowledge the death of their tradition, the geyser of oil might be the Earth bleeding out, or lamenting, in response to this burial. The afterlife of oil extraction for the Osage is not simply monetary gain, there are many losses, including the loss of tradition and human life, which come at the cost of the monetary wealth oil brings.
Despite the film centering the injustice against the Osage Nation, Killers of the Flower Moon closely follows a White settler family’s greed and betrayal. The director’s choice to begin the film with a burial of tradition, and an outburst of oil in response from the land, indicates the importance of oil to this story of injustice. However, Scorsese’s main theme of this movie is a focus on White American settlers. Rather than following the fear, pain, and grief of the Osage closely, Scorsese focuses on following Ernest Burkeharte’s willingness to kill for the opportunity to experience wealth. This film urges White American Settlers to reckon with the truth of our history. Scorsese is asking us to look in the mirror and question what we are willing to do for the promise of wealth.
Bibliography
Adams, Sam. “Killers of the Flower Moon’s Ending Is More than Just a Surprise Cameo.” Slate Magazine, The Slate Group, 19 Oct. 2023, slate.com/culture/2023/10/killers-of-the-flower-moon-movie-ending-martin-scorsese.html.Alves, Cláudio. “Review: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is a Monument of Sorrow - Blog.” The Film Experience, 20 Oct. 2023, thefilmexperience.net/blog/2023/10/20/review-killers-of-the-flower-moon-is-a-monument-of-sorrow.html.
Grann, David. Killers of the Flower Moon. Simon & Schuster, 2018.
“Killers of the Flower Moon: The IMAX Experience at the IMAX Theater in the Indiana State Museum.” White River State Park, White River State Park, 29 Sept. 2023, whiteriverstatepark.org/event/killers-of-the-flower-moon-the-imax-experience-at-the-imax-theater-in-the-indiana-state-museum/.
Mondello, Bob. “‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is a Monstrous Story of Greed, Masterfully Told.” NPR, NPR, 19 Oct. 2023, www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207243738/killers-of-the-flower-moon-is-a-monstrous-story-of-greed-masterfully-told.
Powster. “Killers of the Flower Moon: Official Website: Now Playing Only in Theatres.” Killers of the Flower Moon | Official Website | Now Playing Only in Theatres, Paramount Pictures, 20 Oct. 2023, www.killersoftheflowermoonmovie.com/.
Scorsese, Martin. Killers of the Flower Moon. Paramount Pictures, 2021.
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