"Spending three-and-a-half hours in the company of an idiot is a long time"- Paul Schrader drops criticism on Killers of the Flower Moon

After Martin Scorsese's latest epic Western drama, Killers of the Flower Moon, blew the world away with its gritty pacing, impeccable direction, and harrowing storyline, Scorsese's long-term collaborator, Paul Schrader, has come out with his own criticism of the film. The Taxi Driver scriptwriter felt that despite the film's critical appeal, it placed Leonardo Di Caprio in the wrong position.

The screenwriter and director, who has worked with Martin Scorsese on his life's biggest projects, like Raging Bull, said that Killers of the Flower Moon was a "good" movie.

However, he felt that Leonardo Di Caprio would have been better utilized as the FBI agent investigating the Osage murders, instead of being the man at the center of the crime being manipulated by his uncle (played by Robert De Niro).

Speaking about this in a recent interview with France’s Le Monde, Paul Schrader said:

"Marty compares me to a Flemish miniaturist. He would be more the type who paints Renaissance frescoes....Give him $200 million, a good film will inevitably come out of it. That said, I would have preferred Leonardo DiCaprio to play the role of the cop in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ rather than the role of the idiot. Spending three-and-a-half hours in the company of an idiot is a long time."

This was also perhaps Martin Scorsese's first thought when he conceived Killers of the Flower Moon. In fact, Leonardo Di Caprio was originally cast as the FBI agent investigating the murders, but Scorsese re-thought the process at the insistence of Di Caprio.

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Why was the script for Killers of the Flower Moon changed?

According to Martin Scorsese, he also initially wanted Leonardo Di Caprio to take up the role of FBI agent investigating the Osage murders. The veteran director had also thought of unraveling the story from the perspective of the FBI agents.

However, Killers of the Flower Moon later turned into something completely different, with the perspective of the natives becoming the point of emphasis.

This change was reportedly instigated by Di Caprio, who called Martin Scorsese to request a change in perspective. Speaking about this, the filmmaker told The Irish Times earlier this year:

"Myself and [my co-screenwriter] Eric Roth talked about telling the story from the point of view of the bureau agents coming in to investigate...After two years of working on the script, Leo came to me and asked, ‘Where is the heart of this story?" He said.

"I had had meetings and dinners with the Osage, and I thought, ‘Well, there’s the story.’ The real story, we felt, was not necessarily coming from the outside, with the bureau, but rather from the inside, from Oklahoma." He continued.

Di Caprio ended up playing Ernest Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon, a World War I veteran who was pulled into his uncle's greedy plan of usurping Osage Nation's wealth through several schemes and murders.

The role that was originally planned for Di Caprio was taken over by Jesse Plemons, who did a fantastic job as the FBI agent.

All in all, everything did fall into place by the time Killers of the Flower Moon was completed. It ended up becoming one of the best films of the entire year.