Earlier today, I went to see a movie. Somehow, between the cheaper price of a matinee, and perhaps some kind of a sale going on, I wound up only paying $4.50 for the ticket. Not even sure how that happened. First, I went to the ticket booth, but they directed me to the kiosks, which did not work. So I went to the concession stand, got some kid who seemed to want to be anywhere but where he was, working in the theater, and he charged me that startlingly cheap ticket price. For my part, I played it cool, and just put my card through, then went in to see the movie.
First things first: this is a long movie. It has an official running time of 3 hours and 26 minutes, which is almost twice the length of many other movies. By about two-thirds of the way through the movie, my back began to feel uncomfortable. And be warned to try and go to the bathroom before the movie starts, and not to drink or eat too much beforehand, because it feels like there are important scenes and/or clues scattered throughout the movie that you don't want to miss. Not to make too much of the long length, but again, it is a long movie, although it did not quite feel like well over three hours. That, it seems to me, is a good sign.
One thing: for some reason, I always seemed to have a difficult time remembering the name of this movie. Not sure why. The title almost sounds like it would fit better on some kind of sci-fi flick, or something strange like that. Yet, the trailers looked good.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD***
I knew that it had something to do with Native Americans somewhere more or less West of the Mississippi. It winds up taking place in Oklahoma back in the interwar years, particularly the 1920's, during Prohibition and before the Great Depression hit. We see news footage shown in the theaters back in the early 1920's of the Tulsa race riot, an infamous racist incident when local whites destroyed a prosperous black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It might not seem related at first glance, yet the racism that was so prominent back in much of the country in those days is constantly on display. The clips of the race riots, the end of the traditional Native American way of life and the background history of Native peoples continually being forced off their lands (this movie reminds us that the Osage people have moved from Missouri to Arkansas to Kansas and ultimately to Oklahoma. We see the Ku Klux Klan holding parades in downtown Fairfax, Oklahoma, getting a largely friendly welcome from local whites. We also learn that the Osage people themselves were, pound for pound, the wealthiest people in the world at the time, yet we see that they are unable to directly manage the wealth themselves, since whites regarded them as little more than savages or children, and not responsible enough to control their own fortunes.
All of that serves as the historical backdrop, as well as the running theme consistently seen throughout the movie. It is not a minor point, because ultimately, this is about powerful whites continually manipulating Natives and cultural customs and laws of the time in order to gain some of the enormous wealth and power that the Osage enjoyed at the time.
The movie begins with Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, returning home after the First World War, and coming to Oklahoma, to what we understand is regarded as "Osage country," to live with his brother, Byron, and his wealthy and powerful uncle William Hale, played by Robert DeNiro. We get the impression that Ernest is rather dull-witted, but clearly greedy for money. Hale, by comparison, is very on top of things, shrewd and cunning and pulling Ernest's strings. He advises Ernest to grow familiar with Osage history and culture and language, which Ernest does. Also, he urges Ernest to find a way to marry an Osage woman, then to make sure that the money flows the right way. Namely, to their own family.
That, in and of itself, might seem dark. Yet it grows a whole lot darker, as a series of murders of the Osage begins. Someone appears to be killing them off one by one. Again, racial attitudes of the times comes into play, because none of the murders are taken seriously enough by local authorities to warrant so much as an investigation.
Meanwhile, Ernest has found himself a full-blooded Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, played by Lily Gladstone. There is something strange in their marriage, however. Ernest seems to fluctuate between a very real lust and sometimes even love, as well as darker motives for the marriage, as he does his uncle's bidding and makes every move that ultimately helps to make Mollie's substantial money (since she is a full-blooded Osage) come under their control.
There is little real mystery as to the guilty parties. This is not so much a murder mystery, as it is more of a documentation of how this tragic chapter in history came to unfold the way that it did. Eventually, Mollie sees her close family members killed off, then comes to be sick and seemingly on the verge of death herself, before she forces the issue and goes off to Washington to try and get somebody to pay attention and open up an investigation to the murders back in Osage country in Oklahoma. She even briefly meets President Calvin Coolidge.
Eventually, a real investigation is opened. It does not take long for the de facto good ol' boys network to be unraveled once the investigation grows closer to the truth, and the consequences more serious. Still, we see Ernest being manipulated by both sides, even though his own well-being is on the line in both cases. What finally turns him against his uncle is the death of his daughter from whooping cough. From that point onward, Ernest finally decides to testify in court against his uncle, William Hale. In the end, we learn of what happened next based on a radio broadcast, where we see the voices and the sound effects being played out. Both Ernest and Hale were convicted to life sentences. Mollie divorces Ernest, and she lived until 1937.
At the very end of the movie, we see from above surviving members of the present day Osage tribe drumming and chanting in a circle. Gradually, we pan out, and we see that the circle is distinctly in Native American style, as the circle itself traditionally plays a prominent role for many Native American tribes, presumably including the Osage. It almost looks like a dreamcatcher (at least it did to me, anyway).
Ultimately, this is a very good movie. Also, it is very important. This is a part of our real history, often buried. Indeed, I did some research on these events after seeing the movie, and discovered that Oklahoma Republicans passed a law in 2021 intent on preventing certain unflattering chapters of Oklahoma history from being taught in schools, which of course includes both the Tulsa race riot and the events of these murders portrayed in this movie. Which is all the more reason for why a movie such as this is so important, lest we forget. It is not a "fun" or easy movie to watch. Indeed, there are parts where most viewers will cringe. It reminds us of the reality of racism in the United States, and Oklahoma at the time actively had some strict Jim Crow racial segregation laws on the books. This is the reality, and this is a very real part of American history. This movie explores that quite a bit, so it is not meant to be a comfortable movie. Yet, I repeat that it is an important movie, one that Americans should understand if they are to understand the real history of the United States more in depth.
I strongly recommend going to see this movie.
Below is the link to the Wikipedia page on the bill passed a couple of years ago in Oklahoma which means to effectively censor the history portrayed in this movie:
Oklahoma House Bill 1775 (2021)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_House_Bill_1775_(2021)
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