"You have to know how to leave your place": director Martin Scorsese confides in Clap!

Ophélie Artaud 18:00 pm, May 27, 2023

He was one of the most anticipated directors this year at the Cannes Film Festival. Martin Scorsese was present on the Croisette for this 76th edition, to present his film Killers of the Flower Moon, where two of his favorite actors meet: Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. And the filmmaker also answered Laurie Cholewa's questions: on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the Festival, Clap! has put his suitcases on the Croisette, to return to the best moments of the Festival.

Although he did not compete for the Palme d'Or this year, Martin Scorsese was still delighted to participate in the Festival. "It's the turn of others now, you have to know how to leave your place," he jokes at the microphone of Europe 1 / Clap!. "There is the new generation, the young people... I love the little golden statues and the awards, I am very grateful. But now I think about the passage of time, the energy and the inspiration. That's the most important thing," says Martin Scorsese.

Critically acclaimed at Cannes

The 80-year-old director also returned to Killers of the Flower Moon, presented out of competition and acclaimed by critics. The film returns to a dark page in American history: on Native American lands, in the Osage tribe, the oil discovered arouses the greed of whites, ready to do anything to get their hands on this wealth, by marrying the women of the tribe. Quickly, a series of murders and disappearances will take place within the community... All in a western atmosphere totally assumed, even if Martin Scorsese would have "liked to do more because I like this kind of cinema. But the western has disappeared now, it was a figure of 20th century America and it no longer exists today [...]," he regrets.

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However, the filmmaker tried "as much as possible to include elements of the traditional western" in his latest film. "What's also interesting is that at first, I imagined a saloon or a bar where I would have big stages. But in fact, the state of Oklahoma banned alcohol even before prohibition. So finally, all the action of the film takes place in houses, shops, very far from the tradition of the western and the saloon. I would have liked to, but it just wasn't."

Meeting with members of the Osage tribe

Adapted from a book, the film focuses on the story of Ernest, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. In love with Molly (Lily Gladstone), a Native American, Ernest finds himself recruited by an oil-hungry businessman (Robert de Niro). A character that Martin Scorsese had to totally write. "In the book, there is very little about Ernest. That's one of the problems I've had. I thought, 'So who is he?' We have a lot of details about Bill, Molly, the family and everyone, but nothing about Ernest, "says Martin Scorsese at the microphone of Europe 1 / Clap !.

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"So I invented his character based on what I had read in the book and what the Osage had told me. They were the ones who pointed out to me that it was actually a love story. Before I shot the film, I had dinner with about 150 Osages and they said, 'Don't forget that Ernest loved Molly and Molly loved him. That's the real tragedy,'" concludes the director.

To discover Killers of the Flower Moon, we will have to wait a little longer: the film will be released in theaters on October 18.