Cannes clearly loves Leonardo and Scorsese, who return to the festival for the first time since 1985’s “After Hours.”
Posted Date – Sun, 5/21/23 12:54pm
Yancey Red Corn (from left), Chief Standing Bear and Leonardo DiCaprio pose for photographers as they arrive for the premiere of the film “Killers of the Flower Moon” at the 76th International Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. (Photo by Scott Garfit/Invision/AP)
Angels: Veteran filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to the biggest standing ovation to date. According to Variety, the 3-hour, 26-minute drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone follows a dark and largely unexplained period in American history. A chapter of discovery, related to theater audiences on the French Riviera.
Even after watching a movie longer than Titanic, audiences were ecstatic, jumping to their feet and clapping for nine minutes. Cannes clearly loves Leonardo and Scorsese, who return to the festival for the first time since 1985’s “After Hours.” That’s good news for Apple Original Films, which has committed more than $200 million to the director to realize his vision for one of his signature explorations of crime.
According to Variety, while many of Scorsese’s classic films take place on the mean streets of New York City, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set in northeastern Oklahoma, where members of the Osage Nation fight for the evil murdered systematically.
Variety further noted that Leo, De Niro and Jesse Plemons walked the red carpet with Scorsese ahead of the premiere, braving rain and cloud. Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for her performance as Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator,” cheered Scorsese as he took his seat.
But when the film ends, the loudest screams are directed at its discoverer: Gladstone, who plays an Osage woman betrayed by a greedy husband for her fortune. She earned rave reviews and fought back tears as the crowd inside the Palais applauded loudly. On social media, Oscar bloggers are already using her performance to draw attention to possible awards.
After the film ended with applause, Scorsese picked up the microphone to address the crowd.
“Thank you Osage family,” he said. “Everyone is related to the picture. My old friends Bob and Leo, and Jesse and Lily. We had this picture taken a few years ago in Oklahoma. It takes time to change, but Apple is great for us. Well done. Lots of grass. I’m from New York. I’m amazed. It was an amazing experience. We live in that world.”
