Harbingers’ Magazine is a hands-on school of journalism which teaches all things creative by inviting young adults to run an online literary magazine.
harbinger | noun
har·bin·ger | \ˈhär-bən-jər\
1. one that initiates a major change: a person or thing that originates or helps open up a new activity, method, or technology; pioneer.
2. something that foreshadows a future event : something that gives an anticipatory sign of what is to come.
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Not many filmmakers have a filmography like Martin Scorsese. Over his current 56 year-long career, he has shot thrillers, comedies, biopics, and seemingly exceeded in every venture, cementing his image as one of the most important filmmakers.
Released last week, ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ is no exception, delivering an ultimate American epic of love, betrayal, and the nature of evil.
Both the book and the film tell the story of the ‘Osage reign of terror’, a line of killings of the Osage Native Americans – members of a tribe, who became rich when oil was discovered on their land in Northern Oklahoma in the 1920s.
This was a case that famously ‘made the FBI’ – it was the first case of the Bureau Of Investigation (BOI), which would in 1935 become the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Osage case was assigned to an ex-Texas Ranger Tom White (played by Jesse Plemons) by J. Edgar Hoover, the famous head of the BOI who made it a highly effective arm of federal law enforcement.
Scorsese, however, scales back from the story of the FBI and thus saves the day. In an interview for Deadline Hollywood, the director explained: “Look, the minute the FBI comes in, and you see a character that would be played by Robert De Niro, Bill Hale, you know he’s a bad guy. There’s no mystery. So, what is it? A police procedural? Who cares!”
Instead, he decided to focus on the relationships and the life of the Osage, against the backdrop of Fairfax town. In this way, he brings the film’s triad of actors – Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lily Gladstone – upfront.
All three of them deliver performances which are not only Oscar-worthy but can make it onto the list of their utmost acting achievements. It is Lily Gladstone, however, who shines the most in her role of Mollie Burkhart, the wife of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the heiress of the Osage fortune. Gladstone communicates with subtle expressions, delivering shivering moments of hatred and despair.
Robert De Niro (L) and Leonardo DiCaprio (R) in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon | Apple TV+
In harmony, all of these elements plunge the viewer into a 206-minute-long meditation on American ambition, the banality of evil, and the essence of greed. Scorsese interrogates to what limits these notions can push an individual.
‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ is a thriller which excites from the start, with emotional performances from actors who struggle to find humanity in their characters.
The film differs from what you expect a Scorsese film to be, and its pacing and mélancolique tonality may not be to everyone’s taste. Nonetheless, it leaves you with a sense that there’s a cold-hearted vice inherent in humans, and it feels tragic.
Hailing from Ukraine, Anatolii was born in 2006 and now resides in Amsterdam while getting his diploma. Moving to the Netherlands was a decision first and foremost motivated by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Anatolii keeps his hand on the pulse of modern media and underground culture, that’s what grows his interests and ambitions each day. Anatolii joined Harbingers’ Magazine to challenge himself in this area to explore cultural journalism.
In his free time, he enjoys basketball, watching films, and playing video games.
Anatolii speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English, and is learning Dutch.
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