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Scorsese still fascinated by the limitless possibilities of cinema

In 91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon91Ƶ legendary director explores a betrayal of trust
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Martin Scorsese, director and co-writer of 91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon,91Ƶ poses at the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, at the Dolby Theater. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

A moment from years ago keeps replaying in 91Ƶs mind.

When Akira Kurosawa was given an honorary Academy Award in 1990, the then 80-year-old Japanese filmmaker of 91ƵSeven Samurai91Ƶ and 91ƵIkiru,91Ƶ said he hadn91Ƶt yet grasped the full essence of cinema.

It struck Scorsese, then in post-production on 91ƵGoodfellas,91Ƶ as a curious thing for such a master filmmaker to say. It wasn91Ƶt until Scorsese also turned 80 that he began to comprehend Kurosawa91Ƶs words. Even now, Scorsese says he91Ƶs just realizing the possibilities of cinema.

91ƵI91Ƶve lived long enough to be his age and I think I understand now,91Ƶ Scorsese said in a recent interview. 91ƵBecause there is no limit. The limit is in yourself. These are just tools, the lights and the camera and that stuff. How much further can you explore who you are?91Ƶ

Scorsese91Ƶs lifelong exploration has seemingly only grown deeper and more self-examining with time. In recent years, his films have swelled in scale and ambition as he91Ƶs plumbed the nature of faith ( ) and loss ( ).

His latest, about the systematic killing of Osage Nation members for their oil-rich land in the 1920s, is in many ways far outside Scorsese91Ƶs own experience. But as a story of trust and betrayal 91Ƶ the film is centered on the loving yet treacherous relationship between Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a member of a larger Osage family, and Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a WWI veteran who comes to work for his corrupt uncle (Robert De Niro) 91Ƶ it91Ƶs a profoundly personal film that maps some of the themes of Scorsese91Ƶs gangster films onto American history.

More than the back-room dealings of 91ƵCasino,91Ƶ the bloody rampages of 91ƵGangs of New York91Ƶ or the financial swindling of 91ƵThe Wolf of Wall Street,91Ƶ 91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon91Ƶ is the story of a crime wave. It91Ƶs a disturbingly insidious one, where greed and violence infiltrate the most intimate relationships 91Ƶ a genocide in the home. All of which, to Scorsese, harkens back to the tough guys and the weak-willed go-alongs he witnessed in his childhood growing up on Elizabeth Street in New York.

91ƵThat91Ƶs been my whole life, dealing with who we are,91Ƶ says Scorsese. 91ƵI found that this story lent itself to that exploration further.91Ƶ

91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon,91Ƶ a $200-million, 206-minute epic produced by Apple that91Ƶs in theaters Friday, is an audacious big swing by Scorsese to continue his kind of ambitious, personal filmmaking on the largest scale at a time when such grand, big-screen statements are a rarity.

Scorsese considers 91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon91Ƶ 91Ƶan internal spectacle.91Ƶ The Oklahoma-set film, adapted from , might be called his first Western. But while developing Grann91Ƶs book, which chronicles the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI, Scorsese came to the realization that centering the film on federal investigator Tom White was a familiar a type of Western.

91ƵI realized: 91ƵYou don91Ƶt do that. Your Westerns are the Westerns you saw in the late 91Ƶ40s and early 91Ƶ50s, that91Ƶs it. Peckinpah finished that. 91ƵWild Bunch,91Ƶ that91Ƶs the end. Now they91Ƶre different,91Ƶ he says. 91ƵIt represented a certain time in who we were as a nation and a certain time in the world 91Ƶ and the end of the studio system. It was a genre. That folklore is gone.91Ƶ

Scorsese, after conversations with Leonardo DiCaprio, pivoted to the story of Ernest and Mollie and a perspective closer to Osage Nation. Consultations with the tribe continued and expanded to include accurately capturing language, traditional clothing and customs.

91ƵIt91Ƶs historical that Indigenous Peoples can tell their story at this level. That91Ƶs never happened before as far as I know,91Ƶ says Geoffrey Standing Bear, Principal Chief of Osage Nation. 91ƵIt took somebody who could know that we91Ƶve been betrayed for hundreds of years. He wrote a story about betrayal of trust.91Ƶ

91ƵKillers of the Flower Moon91Ƶ for Scorsese grew out of a period of reflection and reevaluation during the pandemic. COVID-19, he says, was 91Ƶa gamechanger.91Ƶ For a filmmaker whose time is so intensely scheduled, the break was in some ways a relief, and it allowed him a chance to reconsider what he wants to dedicate himself to. For him, preparing a film is a meditative process.

91ƵI don91Ƶt use a computer because I tried a couple times and I got very distracted. I get distracted as it is,91Ƶ Scorsese says. 91ƵI91Ƶve got films, I91Ƶve got books, I91Ƶve got people. I91Ƶve only begun this year to read emails. Emails, they scare me. It says 91ƵCC91Ƶ and there are a thousand names. Who are these people?91Ƶ

Scorsese is laughing when he says this, surely aware that he91Ƶs playing up his image as a member of the old guard. (A moment later he adds that voicemail 91Ƶis interesting to do at times.91Ƶ) Yet he91Ƶs also keen enough with technology to and make cameos in

Scorsese has for years been the preeminent conscience of cinema, passionately arguing for the place of personal filmmaking in an era of moviegoing where films can be devalued as 91Ƶcontent,91Ƶ and big-screen vision can be shrunk down on streaming platforms.

91ƵI91Ƶm trying to keep alive the sense that cinema is an artform,91Ƶ Scorsese says. 91ƵThe next generation may not see it that way because as children and younger people, they91Ƶre exposed to films that are wonderful entertainment, beautifully made, but are purely diversionary. I think cinema can enrich your life.91Ƶ

91ƵAs I91Ƶm leaving, I91Ƶm trying to say: Remember, this can really be something beautiful in your life.91Ƶ

That mission includes spearheading extensive restoration work with the along with a regular output of . Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker are currently producing a documentary on

Cinema, he says, may be the preeminent 20th century artform, but something else will belong to the 21st century. Now, Scorsese says, 91Ƶthe visual image could be done by anything by anybody anytime anywhere.91Ƶ

91ƵThe possibilities are infinite on all levels. And that91Ƶs exciting,91Ƶ Scorsese says. 91ƵBut at the same time, the more choices, the more difficult it is.91Ƶ

The pressure of time is weighing more heavily on Scorsese, too. He has, he91Ƶs said, maybe two more feature films left in him. Currently in the mix are an adaptation of Grann91Ƶs latest book, 91Ƶ and an adaptation of Marilynne Robinson91Ƶs 91ƵHome.91Ƶ

91ƵHe91Ƶs uncompromising. He just does what he feels he really wants to look into,91Ƶ says Rodrigo Prieto, Scorsese91Ƶs cinematographer on 91ƵFlower Moon,91Ƶ as well as his last three feature films.

91ƵYou can feel that it91Ƶs a personal exploration of his own psyche,91Ƶ adds Prieto. 91ƵIn doing that, he allows growth for everybody, in a way, to really look into these characters who might be doing things we might find very objectionable. I can91Ƶt think of many other filmmakers who attempt at such a level of empathy and understanding.91Ƶ

Yet Scorsese says he often feels like he91Ƶs in a race to accomplish what he can with the time he has left. Increasingly, he91Ƶs prioritizing what91Ƶs worth it. Some things are easier for him to give up.

91ƵWould I like to do more? Yeah. Would I like to go to everybody91Ƶs parties and dinner parties and things? Yeah, but you know what? I think I know enough people,91Ƶ Scorsese says with a laugh. 91ƵWould I like to go see the ancient Greek ruins? Yes. Go back to Sicily? Yes. Go back to Naples again? Yes. North Africa? Yes. But I don91Ƶt have to.91Ƶ

Time for Scorsese may be waning but curiosity is as abundant as ever. Recent reading for him includes a new translation of Alessandro Manzoni91Ƶs 91ƵThe Betrothed.91Ƶ Some old favorites he can91Ƶt help but keep revisiting. 91ƵOut of the Past91Ƶ 91Ƶ a movie he first saw as 6-year-old 91Ƶ he watched again a few weeks ago. (91ƵWhenever it91Ƶs on, I have to stop and watch it.91Ƶ) Vittorio De Sica91Ƶs 91ƵGolden Naples91Ƶ was another recent rewatch.

91ƵIf I91Ƶm curious about something, I think I91Ƶll find a way 91Ƶ if I hold out, if I hold up 91Ƶ to try to make something about it on film,91Ƶ he says. 91ƵMy curiosity is still there.91Ƶ

So too is his continued astonishment at cinema and its capacity to transfix. Sometimes, Scorsese can hardly believe it. The other day he watched 1945 horror film 91ƵThe Isle of the Dead,91Ƶ with Boris Karloff.

91ƵReally? How many more times am I going to see that?91Ƶ Scorsese says, laughing at himself. 91ƵIt91Ƶs their looks and their faces and the way (Karloff) moves. When I first saw it as a child, a young teenager, I was terrified by the film and the silences of it. The sense of contamination. I still get stuck on it.91Ƶ

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