While Killers of the Flower Moon falls just short of its previously rumored 4-hour runtime, it still clocks in at a whopping three-and-a-half hours, making it the second-longest film of Martin Scorsese’s career next to his last feature, The Irishman.
Three-hour-plus movies might not be for everyone, but according to Robert De Niro, the Oscar-winning director has more than earned the right to indulge himself. Not only is he “entitled” to make longer films, De Niro told The Messenger that Scorsese “has to do it” when it comes to prioritizing storytelling over runtime. “I think a good example of that is what Marty did with Killers of the Flower of the Moon,” De Niro said of his latest collaboration with the director.
The actor, who spoke with The Messenger while preparing for the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, compared watching a movie to enjoying a “great painting.” De Niro argued that audiences shouldn’t focus on runtime or perceived flaws and instead appreciate the art for what it is, saying, “You go to the museum to see the painting, and you don’t say, ‘Well, I could have done this, I could have done that.’ That’s what it is.”
He continued, “If you want to learn about what it is or how that artist is saying this, you have to listen to the way they say it, no matter how they say it … Even if you want to call them flaws — and that depends on the person … but you have to respect it and watch it the way it is, and that is it.”
While De Niro said he has no regrets about his work behind the camera, he acknowledged that he removed a scene from 2006’s The Good Shepard that he still thinks about adding back. “I took a piece out of The Good Shepherd that I’ve been talking about trying to put back in,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it would have mattered as far as how much money it would have made, but it would have been a more complete movie as far as I’m concerned.”
All three-and-a-half hours of Killers of the Flower Moon — which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, and Brendan Fraser — hits theaters Oct. 6. This year’s Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 7-18.