Killers Of The Flower Moon Star Doesn't See Scorsese's Movie As A Western
Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" is not a happy story. Based on David Grann's non-fiction book of the same name, with a screenplay from Scorsese and Eric Roth, the film depicts the real-life events surrounding members of the Osage tribe in northeastern Oklahoma being murdered in the 1920s, sparking a major BOI (now known as the FBI) investigation. Given the setting and the time period, many are calling this film "Martin Scorsese's Western," but star Lily Gladstone, who plays Mollie Burkhart in the film, is hesitant to follow suit. American cinema has a not-so-great history with its presentation of Indigenous stories, but according to Gladstone, this time it's different.
Speaking to Empire Magazine, Gladstone was quite candid in praising the team both in front of and behind the camera. She said that her hands were shaking during her first scene opposite star Leonardo DiCaprio, and again later when acting alongside Robert De Niro. Fortunately, she said the "titans" were sympathetic screen partners, but it was her connection to the story that gave her the most confidence. Gladstone has Blackfeet and Nimiipuu heritage and has seen firsthand the way the film presents its story with authenticity.
"Having grown up on my reservation in Montana, in the American West and Indian country, it was very familiar to see this goofy, exaggerated cowboy sort of a character falling for a really self-possessed Native woman," she said. "That's just such a familiar dynamic. And that was backed up by a lot of community stories that we had heard." The production went to great lengths to ensure the Osage Nation was involved every step of the way, which Gladstone called "essential," as it avoids "the usual cowboys-and-Indians clichés."
This reframing is precisely why Gladstone doesn't believe people should call this a Western from Martin Scorsese.
'A great American tragedy'
Calling "Killers of the Flower Moon" a Western isn't just a reductive way of approaching the work Martin Scorsese put in to make the film, but it also treats a real-life time period as nothing more than genre fodder. "A lot of people are really wanting to call this 'Martin Scorsese's Western'," Gladstone said, but her more accurate description is calling it "a great American tragedy." All too often, stories of Indigenous history are disregarded and "othered" compared to other moments in U.S. history, despite the fact tribes like the Osage were here long before white people arrived. "With natives and Westerns, we are so dehumanized that it just kind of feels like we're part of the landscape," said Gladstone, "Instead of humans that are telling a story."
There is a direct correlation between the popularity of Western films, TV series, and live Wild West shows and the general U.S. public's stereotypical views of Native people. The offensive portrayals birthed an implicit, negative bias in America's white supremacist society, and the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens' only knowledge of Indigenous people's culture is from the entertainment industry. "Killers of the Flower Moon" doesn't seem to be interested in fulfilling harmful genre tropes and is instead looking to tell a true historical story with accuracy, sensitivity, and an understanding of the importance of doing right by the Osage Nation.
There will be no Buffalo Bill Wild West show antics here, and certainly no John Wayne nonsense either.