Beyond its compelling subject matter and convention-defying conspiracies, what makes David Grann’s work so topical is that it illuminates dark corners of history that many would rather forget, including the legacy of communism. Western colonialism and imperialism, as well as historic genocide against Native Americans. However, this is also (and quite) a point of contention when it comes to Grann, which a lot of his stories are told from a white man’s point of view.
Historian/explorer John Henry Hemming, who studies the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, put both Grann and the film adaptation of “Z’s Lost City” on the mission for exactly the same reason. This. in one piece for Audiences, Hemming dismisses Grann citing his own “three-volume, 2,100-page history of the Brazilian Indians and five centuries of exploration” as a primary source of information for his work, describing much of his book. and the film it inspired is “the artistic license and the exaggeration of an absurd imperative.” Hemming also has no regrets about Percy Fawcett, calling him “a fool”. [and] a racist” whose greatest triumph was propagating the myths of his so-called discovery.
Personally, I agree that “The Lost City of Z” should go further in looking at Fawcett’s racism. I also feel that “Killer of the Flowering Moon” has trouble portraying so much of its story from a white person’s perspective, as opposed to the perspective of members of the Osage Nation it focuses on. enter. That said, I’m happy to hear Martin Scorsese changed his approach to “Flower Moon” after meeting with the Osage Nation today, to make sure they’re more authentically represented… though that doesn’t automatically give him a free right to tell a story that should be it has to be handled by a Native filmmaker (no matter how successful it is).
“Flower Moon Killer” will hit theaters on October 6, 2023.
