Martin Scorsese confesses he doesn’t know how to play it safe

Jordan Hoffman
·3 min read
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A good director only gives their actor a line reading as a last resort. All other avenues for capturing a moment need to be exhausted, with overtime looming. We’re not suggesting for a minute this is what happened during Joe Pesci’s “how’m I funny?” sequence in “GoodFellas,” but there is now evidence that if it had to go that way, Martin Scorsese could have done it.

During the press conference for “Killers of the Flower Moon” at the Cannes Film Festival, the 80-year-old American treasure, winner of the fest’s Palme D’Or for “Taxi Driver” and Best Director trophy for “After Hours,” was dumbstruck when asked if he’d ever consider making an film with fewer risks. (“Flower Moon,” shot on location in Oklahoma, is a 206-minute period epic with a huge budget and cast.) 

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With the 36-year-old Lily Gladstone smiling beside him, the Oscar-winning director of “The Departed” (and “Raging Bull” and “Kundun” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “The Last Waltz” and everything else) threw back a “what else can I do? Whattamigonnado? I dunno.” It’s an incredible moment.

During the press conference, it was reiterated how the project underwent a great transformation when Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth met with members of the Osage Nation. David Grann’s bestselling non-fiction book is more of a crime story about the formation of the FBI. The film is told more from the Indigenous point of view, despite Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro being top-billed.

As such, the film is being hailed for its detailed inclusion of tribal customs. On Twitter, Jim Gray, the former principal Chief of the Osage Nation (and direct descendent of someone depicted in the film) got specific in a lengthy and heartfelt thread about the process of making the film. Chief Standing Bear, the current leader of the Osage Nation, who attended the press conference with the cast and crew, said “My people suffered greatly. To this very day, those effects go with us. But I can say on behalf of the Osage, Scorsese and his team have restored trust and we know that trust will not be betrayed.”

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