Killers of the Flower Moon (cinema, theater, towns, family)
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I saw this on the weekend and I'm sorry I did. It's just plain horrible. The story and characters are both horrible and frustrating. Some of the characters are unclear (having not read the book) and trying to figure them out was distracting from the rest of the horror story.
Its a very disturbing story that really leaves you cold. Some people just chalk it up to one more abuse of Indians by whites. I see it as more than that.
The Indians were seen by William Hale as simply objects that were an impediment towards his achieving greater wealth. Hale was the definition of a psychopath. Yet, he was far from the only one. Any number of white people were willing to participate in murdering Indians to obtain their headrights. It didn't matter whether they were shot, poisoned, or blown up. Hale even had cooperation from the physicians in the area who conveniently lost or did not find evidence during autopsies of murder victims and who participated in poisoning victims. White people were murdered as well when they began to suspect what was going on. It shows how very far moral depravity can sink among some individuals.
Martin Scorsese did an excellent job putting this movie together. DeNiro, DiCaprio, and Gladstone did a great job acting in it. Still, its hard to watch.
I fear the movie may win few academy awards simply because it covers such a depressing topic.
All interesting info and makes me want to know more. Meanwhile, can anyone explain DiCaprio's character to me? It seems obvious he was supposed to be retarded or feeble minded or something - easy to use and easy to take advantage of - but in the movie he seemed to walk the line between knowing what he was doing and being a complete moron. It was never made clear enough which side of the line he thought he was on. And his wife's feelings for him weren't very clear, either.
What was quite clear was that the Indians were "other," and not due equal treatment. In fact, while a lot of people in the movie seemed to be aware of the extent of the murders, they didn't seem very bothered by them. None of the doctors were prosecuted for anything and all the life sentences didn't last for life.
All interesting info and makes me want to know more. Meanwhile, can anyone explain DiCaprio's character to me? It seems obvious he was supposed to be retarded or feeble minded or something - easy to use and easy to take advantage of - but in the movie he seemed to walk the line between knowing what he was doing and being a complete moron. It was never made clear enough which side of the line he thought he was on. And his wife's feelings for him weren't very clear, either.
What was quite clear was that the Indians were "other," and not due equal treatment. In fact, while a lot of people in the movie seemed to be aware of the extent of the murders, they didn't seem very bothered by them. None of the doctors were prosecuted for anything and all the life sentences didn't last for life.
Regarding DiCaprio's character, I think he was definitely of below average intelligence. If 100 is average, I felt like his character was maybe...80? He was easily manipulated, but he was no angel either. He participated in robbing people. I think he definitely had a soft side...I think he truly loved his wife and children, but at the end of the day, he was loyal to his uncle. And I think he thought his uncle always had his best interests at heart.
I watched a documentary about William Hales life and after watching that we decided to forgo seeing the movie in the theatre as the documentary was pretty depressing to see what had transpired.
The documentary was able to put a lot more of what really happened in detail that the movie when we finally watched at home missed.
I will definitely be reading the book when I get a chance. All Hales treachery and orchestrated murders and he was pardoned by a US president. I love old school Vegas history and it was fascinating how he somehow wound up in the company of Billy Binion.
I ahave always had an interest in early American history and now that I am retired and we have opportunity’s for college courses I would love to take a few American History courses.
I watched a documentary about William Hales life and after watching that we decided to forgo seeing the movie in the theatre as the documentary was pretty depressing to see what had transpired.
The documentary was able to put a lot more of what really happened in detail that the movie when we finally watched at home missed.
I will definitely be reading the book when I get a chance. All Hales treachery and orchestrated murders and he was pardoned by a US president. I love old school Vegas history and it was fascinating how he somehow wound up in the company of Billy Binion.
I ahave always had an interest in early American history and now that I am retired and we have opportunity’s for college courses I would love to take a few American History courses.
I wanted to mention one real subtle thing about the film that connects to a another Osage story that is perhaps a brighter one.
In the movie, William Hale provides the money to start a dance studio in Fairfax. Shortly thereafter the dance studio owner shotguns one of Hale's criminal allies in a robbery attempt. Thus keeping the criminal ally "quiet".
The reason this is significant is that there was a prominent Osage named Alex Tall Chief who like the other Osage... got rich in the early '20s. He brought in the movie theater in Fairfax which is still there although it is non functioning. He had the pool hall which is represented in the movie. He built a large "mansion" that now sits in disrepair just outside Fairfax.
However, the most significant thing about the "dance studio" scene is that Alex Tall Chief's two daughters, Maria and Marjorie started doing ballet (actually under a private teacher from Tulsa) and ultimately, after a move to Los Angeles a few years later (1933)... ended up being America's premiere ballerinas of the mid 20th century.
Ironically, the move was not precipitated by the girls potential as ballerinas but by the trauma their non Osage mother had suffered during the reign of terror. Many Osage left Oklahoma during that period because of what was going on. Today, two thirds of all Osage live outside the Osage country.
Wee bit of trivia.. Lily Gladstone.. Mollie...her mother is the first cousin of the Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, William Ewart Gladstone.
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