Last week, director Steven Spielberg sat down for an interview Martin Scorsese after a screening of The assassins of the Flower Moon at the DGA. The conversation they have includes some fascinating insights into the making of the film, which Spielberg tells Scorsese: “You are the master of our medium and this is your masterpiece, Marty.”
Killers of the Flower Moon was definitely a great film, but I wouldn’t say it’s Scorsese’s best. I think he’s definitely made better films in his career, but this one definitely sent a powerful message.
Spielberg continued, “It’s great to see Bobby D and Leo D together in this movie. This is your sixth collaboration with Leo and eleventh with Bobby. You’re only three films away from tying the record with John Ford, who directed John Wayne fourteen times, so you can’t give up on Bobby yet.
Scorsese also talked about his original vision for the story, and that version would focus more on the FBI character Tom White played by Jesse Plemons. But originally the role was going to be played by DiCaprio. He would lean on the whole FBI side of the story.
The director then spoke about the western genre and how it is sadly coming to an end: “The problem, Steve, is the western. I love the western genre, like you. I grew up with it and you did too. It ended with Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. In a way that was the end of that world. It’s a new world. The West must be something else. So I couldn’t possibly do a western. I never imagined myself getting close to Hawks, Ford, Boetticher or any of those guys.
Scorsese added, “So for me, I found that, following the story from the FBI’s point of view, a guy gets off the train, he’s got some beautiful boots, he’s leaning over, he’s got that Stetson, he’s got that beautiful tie, and he goes in the city and try to figure out what’s going on and who did it. Number one: It’s not who did it. It’s who didn’t do it. It’s the whole city, everyone. We’re all complicit in this. We really are. We’re here now. I feel that. I feel like we’re all complicit in what happened, in how the country was formed, in our culture, in everything. Number two: have Leo play that part. I would get up out of my boots and go into face. He walks into town. He doesn’t say anything… well, we never work that way. And I’ve seen him before. I honestly saw him looking more like a Randolph Scott or early Clint Eastwood.”
That would have been an interesting direction to take the story. I just have to say that I love westerns and hate the thought of the genre ending. I grew up watching those classic films and would love to see more of them made these days.
Scorsese went on to talk about his complicity in the story and the final sequence, saying that the radio show represents “my belief in being complicit in enjoying entertainment. This film is also entertainment in this sense. I tried to make it as honest as possible. So we had to end with one of those radio shows where you see, after all this, this is what the American public has been led to think or believe about this situation. And in the middle of the show it suddenly becomes an epilogue. Because if it’s really 1936 in a radio studio how does the announcer know that Bill Hale died at the age of 87?
Enjoy Spielberg and Scorsese discussing the film in the video below. Lots of great stuff here!
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
