“It Doesn’t Matter Who Did It”
Director Martin Scorsese explains why Killers of the Flower Moon strays from the book when it comes to the central mystery. Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic Western crime film that tells the true story of the Osage’s reign of terror. In the 1920s, shortly after the Osage Nation became wealthy following the discovery of oil on their lands in Oklahoma, their community suffered a series of murders that prompted an FBI investigation. The film is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by journalist David Grann, but has some notable differences. In an interview with IndieWire, Scorsese explained Killers of the Flower Moon’s most important differences from Grann’s book. Grann’s book allows readers to join him in investigating the terrifying mystery. However, viewers know who the culprit is early on in the film, so there’s no whodunit aspect to deal with. This is intentional because Scorsese believes that the biggest mystery is not who did it but why. Check out his statement below: Because who cares who did it? They all did it. Well, what makes us do this? What is the flaw in our human nature that makes us take advantage of others, considering ourselves superior? Of course, as one of them, European American, I come from a southern climate, Sicily, which is a little different from the northern climate of Europe and Scandinavia. Many people come as immigrants and settlers. And there is a moral principle that you reap what you sow.
Why The Lack Of Mystery Doesn’t Hurt Killers Of The Flower Moon
Some people may find it surprising that Killers of the Flower Moon doesn’t focus on the mystery aspect of the story. After all, the case remained a mystery to those involved for many years. With the lawlessness in the West at the time and discrimination against indigenous people, the investigation of this case was extremely slow. After the first death, it took five years to make an arrest, by which time some 60 Osage had been murdered. Additionally, although the case eventually sparked an FBI investigation, it has since largely faded from history. Before Grann’s book was published in 2017, the Osage murders were not a well-known story. Search queries on this topic in 2016 would yield less than a hundred results about the case. Many people are unaware of this dark history outside of the Osage Nation. America would rather forget its tense relationship with its indigenous people and the way greedy and jealous white settlers spread terror in a nation that had been repeatedly displaced. When Grann told the story, it made sense to tell it as a mystery because no one had really heard the story before.