Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Killers of the Flower Moon: The final word



I did not want to see Killers of the Flower Moon at first, because the trailers made it all seem like DiCaprio was the white saviour swooping in to help the Indians with their problems. But then I heard his character was actually a total piece of shit, and that's the kind of Scorsese movie I can get behind.

(There were still too many scenes of him looking sad when he sees what high explosives he's been forcing people to use actually do to a human body. Just be a fuckin' weasel if you're going to be a weasel, don't try to humanise the fool.)

But it's the dual meaning of that last line that really hit home at the end of 3+ hours. It's a line that signifies that Mollie's life shouldn't be solely defined by the terrible tragedies that befell her family, but also that it was already being forgotten by a society embarrassed by such a naked grab for power. There's a lot going on in there in those few words, especially when you see who is uttering them.  

With this and Oppenheimer (and apparently Barbie which I have to see soon so my wife can lob patriarchy jokes at me), it's been an absolute blinder of a year for last lines in big films. They are what you walk out of the film with, and the perfect line can make or break a movie. I won't ever forget this one. 

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