The film, Killers of the Flower Moon, based on the story written by David Grann, was released as a movie on October 20. The book is nonfiction, following the Osage Nation (a Native American tribe in the United States). The story takes place in the early 1920s, and follows a series of murders of Osage Nation members after oil was discovered on their land in Oklahoma.
“I think [the story] is really fascinating,” said Nathan Kaufman, ‘25. “I think it was 60 murders.” Many Osage died under suspicious circumstances during the time period in which the story takes place, but it was very under-investigated. “People didn’t do that much about it,” Kaufman noted. This is a testament to the widespread discrimination Native Americans have long faced in the United States. Despite the highly suspicious deaths of many in the Osage nation, local law enforcement was by and large apathetic to their plight.
The fact that the story is being made into a movie is noteworthy, particularly because it is being directed by Martin Scorsese. His choice to direct this film is significant not simply because he is a renowned director. “Scorsese, by his own admission, focuses on the limited amount of time he has left to make movies,” John Douglass, MHS’s film club advisor, explained. “What he deems worthy of that time I think is really interesting.” Scorsese, 81 in November, does indeed have a limited amount of time to continue directing. His choice then takes on greater significance- to tell the story of Killers of the Flower Moon because it is an important story to tell.
Originally, the script for the movie had a heavier focus on Tom White, the law enforcement agent who investigated the murders of the Osage. However, the script was rewritten to focus more on the Osage who were affected by these murders. “That’s probably the wrong way to tell the story,” said Douglass about the movie’s original focus on White. The movie’s focus on the Osage is an important aspect of the rewrite, as it will portray in greater depth the people who were wronged.
