Killers of the Flower Moon

An adaptation of David Grann’s 2017 book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the film recounts the killing of several members of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma over the discovery of oil on their land. Killers is, notably, the sixth feature film collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, with the most recent being The Wolf of Wall Street from 2013. Having received a nine-minute standing ovation at its Cannes world premiere, it suffices to say that this long-awaited collaborative follow-up promises to be well worth the wait.

The trailer begins with a slow-motion clip of what looks like Indigenous people dancing, accompanied by a faint woodwind instrument that indigenizes the narrative from the start. This soundscape carries over into the next scene, where the sound of the train is outsized—we hear nothing else. This is followed by voiceover exposition from DiCaprio’s character. Notice the emphasis on the sound effect of the photographic flash at 0:27; the photographer seems to be using magnesium flash powder, which was not unusual for the time. However, with sound, the fire serves as an emblem for the colonial violence wrought especially at the time.

As the director’s title card passes, we hear the addition of steady, insistent percussion in the arrangement, which has taken the train’s chuffing and turned it into an Indigenous-sounding drum beat. “There are many, so many hungry wolves,” DiCaprio says—not necessarily, and yet almost certainly a sly reference to DiCaprio and Scorsese’s last collaboration. At 0:58 the soundtrack responds in kind with the howling of wolves; the percussion has picked up the pace, doubling its rate and accelerating. By 1:11 we hear human voices added to the mix, along with high strings. Notice the small but significant synch point at 1:13 with the bursting of the door; at this point, adding synch points as a method of ramping up an arrangement is almost to be expected. By 1:16 it becomes fairly clear that Indigenous voices and singing are added, which provides a potent counterpoint to the high strings that resonate in a single chord in the upper register. By 1:20 we see an action montage sequence, rapidly moving from scene to scene. Notice at 1:27 how the last few visual changes are synched to the persistent beat.

It would be interesting to know to what extent the Indigenous singing and flute playing is authentic to the Osage nation; as it is, it’s difficult to confirm or deny to what extent the music on offer here is authentic or used with full permission. Still, as it is, the soundtrack adds these elements with intent, hopefully in a way that doesn’t disrespect the culture to which it refers.

Killers of the Flower Moon is due for release in theatres October 6th, 2023.

— Curtis Perry