KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is currently showing at AMC Theatres.

Martin Scorsese has made a career out of taking historical events and figures and turning them into larger-than-life movies with massive scope and scale while also presenting these stories with a tremendous amount of thought and consideration. Epics like THE AVIATOR and THE IRISHMAN are just two examples of this, as is the decorated filmmaker’s latest feature film, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. The movie, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone in Oscar®-worthy performances, tells the tragic story of the Osage Nation and the murders that nearly wiped out the tribe after oil was found on its land.

Ahead of the film’s long-awaited release, Scorsese sat down with AMC Theatres to discuss a number of topics related to KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Throughout the conversation, the acclaimed director touched on everything from the human connection of his new movie, which he wanted to tackle with authenticity and honesty, to the dark history behind it. See what he had to say in the video below:

The Heart Of The Story

There are dozens of characters who show up during KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, many of which have their own arcs of varying degrees, but the heart of the story is that of Ernest and Mollie Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, respectively. Over the course of the movie’s nearly three-and-a-half-hour runtime, their relationship is treated as the glue that pieces everything together.

Their story is also what brings so much tragedy and sorrow to the movie, as Ernest’s intentions behind marrying the wealthy Osage woman are never presented in absolute good or evil, instead somewhere in the middle.

In his chat with AMC Theatres, Scorsese explained that what made the Osage Murders such a unique case is that the European-Americans like Ernest and his uncle William King Hale (Robert De Niro) didn’t just come in and kill the natives and take their land. Instead, “these people were friends,” an aspect that makes the killings so much harder to swallow.

Authenticity And Honesty

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is a historical epic, meaning Martin Scorsese and his team had to get a lot of things right during the development of its story and execution of its production, probably more so than with any film he’s made over the years. During his conversation, the director explained that there was a lot to get into “in terms of authenticity and honesty with how the Osage lived,” which becomes evident from the first frame of the film.

There are times throughout the movie where it looks like a documentary due to the level of the detail seen in practically every aspect of its depictions of the Osage people and their history. Brilliantly crafted and elaborate costumes with eye-popping colors, rituals for both joyful and mournful occasions, and explorations of the tribe’s culture add not only to the quality of the film, but also the weight of its story.

A Different Way Of Thinking

Though KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON focuses on the same story presented in David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book of the same name, Scorsese’s movie takes a drastically different approach to how it is presented. In essence, it’s a much more subjective retelling of the tragic murders. “In the book, it’s like ‘Who done it?’ and I always point out, when I was reading it, in my head, it was like ‘Who didn’t do it?’” Scorsese revealed, adding, “Maybe we all did it. Maybe we’re part of that with the way we think and the way we’ve been reared, and the way we’re taught is part of a whole other way of thinking which may not be the ultimate way.”

Instead of looking at the story from the outside looking in, which is the way it is presented in the book, Scorsese said he wanted to look at it from the inside out. Moviegoers can experience the vast scope and scale of Martin Scorsese’s crime epic in all its glory by checking out KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON in theatres.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is currently showing at AMC Theatres.