Killers of the flower moon - Scorsese at its finest

Killers of the Flower Moon meets its expectations: it is the grand spectacle it promises to be, one of the best works of the entire career for both Martin Scorsese and his stellar cast.

The crimes committed in the Osage nation in the '20s certainly are a most obscure historical fact to most. Scorsese's adaptation of the non-fiction book by David Grann examines in great depth the premises, consequences and the events, and does so in a way that it never feels didactic or overly expositional, through images and sounds. 

Among Scorsese's works, Killers is closer to The Departed rather than Shutter Island. It could be listed among his great Gangster epics, even if it is thematically different. It is a narrative of the subtle, very linear - which is perhaps something that could come off as a negative aspect - but intriguing and engaging because of the few missing pieces of the puzzles, and the willful omissions. Scorsese had said in the past that his draw for the film was the motivations of the characters, and that is where the mystery is thickest: not knowing the full motivations, the intentions of characters is what drives the film, and makes a three and a half hours most easy to watch.

A cinematic masterpiece that blends perfectly the arts that are encompassed in film: image, sound and acting all link together without stepping each other's boundaries or breaking the disbelief. The Osage nation landscape's visuals are stunningly captured Better performances by Di Caprio can be counted on ahand, De Niro's character is consistent, maybe less nuanced, but next to such giants it is Lily Gladstone that shines the brightest.

What makes Killers truly outstanding is that, while it is most identifiable as a Scorsese film, with all his directorial trademarks, a film in which the filmmaker experiments, tries out new angles and narrative techniques, subverts common tropes and clichés associated with "based on a true story" narration. The editing of the opening sequences is of a beauty rarely matched in his own works. For these reasons alone it is worthy to be listed among his best works. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is definitely destined to remain one of the best films of the year, as well as Scorsese's best work from the last decade, proving that his steam is still very far from being out.