Osage crew members offer some measured critiques of Killers Of The Flower Moon

Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated historical tragedy, will finally premiere in theaters on October 20. Based on the book of the same name by David Gann, the story concerns the “Reign of Terror,” the murder of dozens of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s. Scorsese worked closely with the Osage to craft the film, and clearly established trust and respect with the tribe. Of course, that doesn’t make the movie completely above reproach.

“I was nervous about the release of the film. Now that I’ve seen it, I have some strong opinions. As an Osage, I really wanted this to be from the perspective of Mollie and what her family experienced, but I think it would take an Osage to do that,” Christopher Cote, the movie’s Osage language consultant, told The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet. “Martin Scorsese, not being Osage, I think he did a great job representing our people, but this history is being told almost from the perspective of Ernest Burkhart and they kind of give him this conscience and kind of depict that there’s love. But when somebody conspires to murder your entire family, that’s not love. That’s not love, that’s just beyond abuse.”

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest, who is roped into a scheme against the wealthy Osage by his uncle (played by Robert De Niro) that leads to the murder of his wife Mollie’s (Lily Gladstone) family. “I think in the end, the question that you can be left with is: How long will you be complacent with racism? How long will you go along with something and not say something, not speak up, how long will you be complacent?” Cote said. “I think that’s because this film isn’t made for an Osage audience, it was made for everybody, not Osage. For those that have been disenfranchised, they can relate, but for other countries that have their acts and their history of repression, this is an opportunity for them to ask themselves this question of morality, and that’s how I feel about this film.”

Janis Carpenter, another Osage language consultant for Killers, told the outlet she has “mixed feelings” seeing the culture represented on screen amid such a tragic, traumatic story. “Some things were so interesting to see, and we have so many of our tribal people that are in the movie that it’s wonderful to see them,” she said. “But then there are some things that were pretty hard to take.”

A statement from the Osage Nation on its website notes that in the film, “The language you hear is taught by Osage Nation Language Teachers. The traditional Wahzhazhe clothing you see is made by Osage artists. The landscape is the Osage Nation Reservation.” The statement adds that the tribe is seeking federal legislation to have headright interests returned to the Osage. “We are not relics,” the statement reads. “The Osage Nation is thriving on our Reservation in Northeast Oklahoma—a people of strength, hope, and passion, honoring the stories of the past and building the world of the future.”

To that end, Osage Nation chief Geoffrey Standing Bear told The Guardian that he expressed to Scorsese that the film should include “Our language, our culture–and not to include other tribal ways. We respect other tribal ways, but we have our own. And even among ourselves, just to keep our traditions going day to day, month to month, year to year is tough.”

Scorsese’s determination to film on Osage land was the first bridge built between the filmmaker and the tribe, and the “door kept opening” from there, Standing Bear said, noting that around 100 Osage were extras in the movie. The result, for the chief, was stirring. “I didn’t realize when I was watching the movie that I, personally, have failed in being fully sympathetic to these families who did lose people. What must they be going through when they see this movie, and see their grandfather shot in the back of the head on the big screen?” He said. “Or when they see the large family groups of cousins and aunts and uncles at our ceremonies, and think ‘My family, we’re small. We should have been as large as anybody else’s, but our people were all murdered.’ I never thought of that aspect of it. This movie’s brought out such things, and that’s painful. So yeah, this story is something for all of us to learn from.”