Martin Scorsese Shuts Down Criticism Of Killers Of The Flower Moon’s Long Runtime

Considered by many to be one of the greatest directors of all time, Martin Scorsese has had a profound impact on the film industry over the past forty years. His filmography is quite noteworthy, featuring classics like The Wolf of Wall Street, The Last Temptation of Christ, and The Irishman. 

He collaborated with Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro for his recent release Killers of the Flower Moon, which was a critical success and earned him another Oscar nomination for direction. In a recent interview, the filmmaker responded to the criticism of the film having longer than three-hour runtime. He merely said that not every movie genre is meant for every audience.

Martin Scorsese defends Killers Of The Flower Moon

In a conversation with Variety, Scorsese was asked about the criticism of Killers Of The Flower Moon for its three hours and 25 minutes runtime. To which the filmmaker replied, “I really don’t know how to respond to it except for the fact that many people seem to go with it. Some people say, “I want to see it again.” Not every film is for every person. Not every novel is for every reader, not every painting, etc. I don’t know if it’s something that will be universally accepted. This one felt right [at this length], and I felt that while I was watching it. I felt inside of it. 

Martin Scorsese breaks Steven Spielberg's Oscars record  

With his nomination for Best Director for Killers Of The Flower Moon, Scorsese has become the director with the most Oscar nominations in the category who is still alive. Till now, he has been nominated for Best Director for his films Raging Bull (1981), The Last Temptation of Christ (1989), Goodfellas (1991), Gangs of New York (2003), The Aviator (2005), The Departed (2007), Hugo (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2014), The Irishman (2020) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Spielberg earlier held the record with 9 nominations for his films- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005), Lincoln (2013), West Side Story (2021) and The Fabelmans (2022).

Scorsese has won the category just once for The Departed while Spielberg won the category twice (Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan).