Rating 15
Length 3h26
Release 20.10.2023
Director Martin Scorsesse
About Real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal as Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation, tries to save her community from a spree of murders fueled by oil and greed.
Moon: full moon seen 25 minutes in
Where to Watch: Apple TV
Trailer:
The Good
I’m calling it now: Lily Gladstone will take away the Oscar for Best Actress in a leading role on 10 March. She is incredible in representing what I see as a matriarchal power within a community that many women today would say is what feminism is looking for in terms of ‘equality’.
Gladstone even when at the most vulnerable point of Mollie’s life, gives a strength of character and morals that will have you wanting to reach through the screen to ensure her survival.
It is a visually beautiful film. You cannot deny, that Martin Scorsese is an incredible, talented, filmmaker. He’s even able to utilise slow motion is a competent and effective way.
The story is powerful. I found myself at the half way mark, maybe a little after, thinking so angrily about how corrupting wealth is. It then pulled me up short because this is a wealth that is still causing death, deception and dehumanisation a hundred years later. We’re not talking about money, but something more powerful. Oil.
Then you consider the characters of Mollie and Ernest. My opinions of DiCaprio aside, it’s clear these two characters love each other. It creates an almost paradox, not only within the film but the audience’s own understanding too. It will have you thinking about it, long after the film has finished.
The Bad
The run time. Yes, I do think that it’s largely to do with what the story is telling and how it perhaps could have been a trilogy. Maybe if Scorsese was younger, he’d have entertained it. However, I think this is the first three hour film I’ve watched since the most recent Bond. I didn’t need to stop the film, but with it being a slow and relatively quiet film, I know others would struggle.
By extension, because of how long the film is, the one thing I disliked was the use of flash back in the final act to an earlier part of the film. It wasn’t a replay of scenes, but still felt unnecessary.
The Ugly
I big swing, but Leonardo DiCaprio is too overrated and I could have watched this film with anyone else in the role of Earnest. In fact, I would have preferred Jesse Plemons take on the protagonist, and DiCaprio in the smaller, third act role, of Tom White.
Maybe I’m missing something that others can see in DiCaprio’s performances, but I couldn’t distinguish this performance, to that of The Revenant (2015), or even Don’t Look Up (2021). His ability to gurn and look like he’s attended Joey’s School of ActingTM does not an actor make for me.
By extension, Robert DeNiro should have been swapped with John Lithgow for the very reason that there was doubt or question about the morality of Bill Hale. The moment you see DeNiro, you know that while he himself doesn’t get dirty, he’s the shots.
Put Lithgow in the role, what is seen immediately as manipulation, becomes a much more subtle and opportunistic plot. DeNiro is too much the obvious choice for that role and I truly would have loved to have seen Lithgow get his teeth into a multi act performance and allowing DeNiro to play the smaller, government role.
Final Thoughts
An incredibly well made film that is a little too long for me. Not because of attention span as such, more that the story does lend itself to a trilogy.
That said, if you’re a fan of Scorsese, you’ll find this biopic perfect.
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