In one of the opening iconic shots members of the Osage native Americans dance around an oil blowout as it rains down on them black gold. This imagery of raining black oil with its religious undertones of dark anointment, sets the tone of foreboding doom of this monumental biblical American epic by one of the greatest living directors of all time Scorsese. Based on the true, devastating tale of the Osage tribe who became sensationally rich in the 20’s due to finding oil on their reservations, only to have the tribe deal with an epidemic of murders for their wealth. So much of Scorsese’s oeuvre, of over 56 years, has to do with the soul/ character of humanity. Steeped in Catholic themes of guilt and redemption so many of his characters are deeply flawed despicable humans corrupted by violence, greed and power. His genius is to make us feel for these lost souls despite their horrific crimes. But perhaps for the first time in his filmography, the individual soul of DiCaprios character becomes a metaphor for a larger story about the soul of America and perhaps other colonised societies. Killers of the Flower Moon alludes to a history of colonising greed destroying the lives of natives that has parallels with Australia’s own sad colonial history. In one scene in the third act, as the crimes are finally coming to light, a shot presents us with all the prominent white members of the town, the police, oil companies, landlords and we see writ large the guilt of an entire community. Societies built on violence have a corrupted soul that seeps through the generations. So much of American history is a combination of greed, power and religion. I kept being reminded of the masterpiece ‘There Will Be Blood’, which so perfectly captured the nature of the early American soul. However unlike the seeming nihilism of that film, Scorsese film offers redemption through love. The heart of the film becomes a moving and complex love story between DiCaprios lost character and the runaway star of the film Lilly Gladstone in a performance of nobility, grace and stoicism. It’s her scenes of wrenching pain brought tears to my eyes. This love story reminiscent of ‘The Power of Thread’ a dark romance that offers a glimmer of redemption. DiCaprio gives one of his best performances, playing a very unglamorous role: neither hero nor clever villain, but a greedy, foolish pawn in a greater game. And De Niro creates a calculating villain of manipulation and hypocrisy that is frightening. This sweeping vision of a corrupted American soul with the KKK, Tulsa race riots, Free Masons, and mistreatment of native Americans felt like a pointed allegory of our troubled society today. With its racial injustice, greed and division. And yet father Scorsese seems to offer us absolution only through testifying to our sins and through love.

10/10