Why that rain scene in 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is so 'beautiful' to Martin Scorsese

There’s a quiet power to Lily Gladstone, the Oscar-nominated star of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

In Martin Scorsese’s historical drama, the Blackfeet actress plays the real-life Mollie Kyle, a resilient Osage woman whose sisters were murdered for their wealth in 1920s Oklahoma. Gladstone’s serene presence anchors a standout early scene of the film, in which Mollie is getting to know her new suitor, a white man named Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Sitting at her dining room table, they ask each other about family and religion, as Mollie tries to suss out whether Ernest is only after her money. Just as they’re about to open a bottle of whiskey, thunder roars and rain starts to pour. “We need to be quiet for a while,” Mollie tells Ernest, asking him to set the liquor aside. “Just be still.”

It’s a simple yet poignant moment, as the couple gazes wordlessly at each other and outside the window. Before the story’s tragedies and betrayals unfold, they connect on a human level.

“It’s that idea of just learning to be comfortable with the stillness,” Gladstone says. “We should all just take a moment to slow down and see rain as a blessing.”

'A perfect example of how Osage voices changed the story'

Scorsese leaned on Osage consultants throughout production, which was crucial to that particular exchange.

“That scene is a perfect example of how Osage voices changed the story,” Gladstone says. “Initially, it was very funny: Mollie ends up drinking Ernest under the table. But when I went to the community, they were a little hesitant to believe that Mollie (would do that)." Seeing how her sister, Anna (Cara Jade Myers), struggled with alcoholism, “she wouldn’t have been that kind of drinker.”

During a meeting with the Osage Nation, community members raised the issue of how Mollie’s drinking was portrayed in the script. Wilson Pipestem, a lawyer, shared a memory about his Grandma Rose that ultimately reshaped the scene.

“When I first met him, he was very nervous about all this,” Scorsese recalls. “He said, ‘You don’t understand the Osage,’ and I was listening to him. At one point, he said, ‘When there was a storm, my grandmother would say you can’t run around and do anything. Sit and let the power of the storm pass over you because it’s a gift. And that’s the kind of people we are.’ So I wrote that down and put it in the film. For me, that was so beautiful.”

For Gladstone, Pipestem’s grandmother became “one of my bigger access points to understanding Osage women of the era.” Like Mollie in that moment, “Rose would put her blanket on and just listen to the storm with her hands upturned, receiving everything it was bringing.”

'Rain has a really big significance for Osage people'

“Killers of the Flower Moon” earned 10 Oscar nominations last week, including best picture, best director (Scorsese) and best actress (Gladstone, who is the first Native American recognized in the category). The true-crime epic debuted at the rainy Cannes Film Festival in France last May, and had a similarly drenched New York premiere in September.

“Every time this film has premiered when there have been Osage in attendance, it’s rained. And that’s a good sign,” Gladstone says. Alaina Maker, an Osage costumer on the film, told Gladstone her father would say “when it rains, it’s almost like you’re born new every time; you’re never the same person after a rainstorm. Rain has a really big significance for Osage people.”