THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AIDS THE OSAGE NATION IN KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Director Martin Scorsese begins the film as if seated on the stage in front of the curtain to assert that the film is made to correct the record, presumably hinting that he had some personal interest. But the film takes place in Fairfax, a town in northwest Oklahoma, far from his New York City birthplace, within a countryside dominated by the Moonflower. Two hours later, when filmviewers look at their watches, they realize that he is apologizing for the length of the docudrama, which will continue for another 86 minutes. The film is based on a book written by David Grann with same title as the film, published in 2017, with many details that Scorsese wants in the film.
The film begins with the arrival in Fairfax of Ernest Burkhart (played by Leonardo Di Caprio), nephew of William Hale (Robert De Niro), who prefers to be called “king.” Burkhart has just been discharged from the army after the end of World War I and has arrived to work for Hale, a cattle rancher with some wealth and standing in the community. Fairfax is a major town in Osage County, which is coterminous with the Osage Nation reservation. (In 1905, the federal government put the town up for sale, with proceeds going to the Osage Nation, so a town of Whites is surrounded by an Indigenous people, where they are highly visible for public and private matters. Any Osage who are incapable of managing their lands are forced under a 1906 law to forfeit their land, which was then sold to Whites, so lawyers play an important role.)
From 1897, many oil wells are discovered throughout the county, making the Osage people the richest in the world but also enticing such settlers as Hale who seek to gain some of the riches. The settlers, including oil workers, bring their hard liquor, but many Osage are unable to tolerate sugar and become diabetic. Although elderly Osage oppose intermarriage with the Whites, mutual attraction results in marriages, and some Whites become heirs to the oil revenue when Osage die. In 1921, Congress requires courts to provide guardians for oil rights of any Osage with half blood or more, and the guardians are Whites.
(Whereas filmviewers are informed that Osage were then highly “civilized,” having traveled to Europe and accomplished a lot, many may have intermarried to allow the Osage race to survive, similar to the king’s directive in mid-19th century Hawaiʽi. The film provides some documentaries from the era, including reference to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre of prosperous African Americans.)
Elderly Hale is not attractive for marriage, but his nephew is. He arranges for Ernest to provide taxi service to Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a prominent Osage of about his age, and in due course they fall in love and marry. Although the film begins by treating Hale and Burkhart quite sympathetically, the Osage are fearful because murders of Osage people are taking place, some disappearing mysteriously. The number of deaths increased beyond 20, ultimately rising to an estimated 60. Members of Mollie’s family are included in the deaths. Shady characters in town carry out the murders, but footprints of Hale as paymaster and Ernst as solicitor of hitmen become increasingly evident. Ernst informs the physicians of Mollie, who has become diabetic, that she insists on having him administer insulin shots, which first become available in 1922. Her condition worsens to the point that relatives send her to the hospital, where she discovers that her husband has been gradually poisoning her. After she recovers and divorces Ernst, she joins a significant group of Osage who take a train to Washington to demand federal action to end the murders, since local police will not do so.
The Bureau of Investigation, an agency in the Department of Justice, responds with a team that begins a series of interviews, leading up to the arrest of Hale and Burkhart for trial as murderers. Hale assures Burkhart that he can bribe their way out of the charges, but juries convict Hale, and Burkhart confesses during Hale’s trial in 1926. Due to his advanced age, Hale is later released from prison to reside in a nursing home in Oregon. Burkhart is condemned to a life sentence, though paroled in 1937. Although not mentioned in the film, Congress responded in 1925 by prohibiting non-Osage from inheriting oil royalties from Osage with half or more Native American ancestry.
The Political Film Society has nominated Killers of the Flower Moon as best film exposé and best film on human rights of 2023. MH