KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON editor Thelma Schoonmaker ACE has literally had a front row seat to some of the most celebrated films of the past four decades, working as director Martin Scorsese's editor and filmmaking partner. The pair reunite once again for KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, two mainstays of Scorsese's acting troupe, as well as Lily Gladstone, who delivers a breakout performance as Mollie Kyle.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON was directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay he co-wrote with Eric Roth, based on the 2017 non-fiction book of the same name by David Grann. Set in 1920's Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was being produced on tribal land. Tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, and whites sought to gain their wealth.
THELMA SCHOONMAKER ACEThelma Schoonmaker is a three-time Academy Award winner, having worked for more than 40 years alongside filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Schoonmaker has been honored with Oscars, most recently in 2007 for her work on Scorsese’s “The Departed,” and in 2004 for his film “The Aviator.” In 1981, she won both the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for editing Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” Subsequently, she worked on all of Scorsese’s features: “The King of Comedy,” “After Hours,” “The Color of Money,” “The Last Temptation of Christ,” the “Life Lessons” segment from “New York Stories,” “Goodfellas” (which earned her another BAFTA Award, as well as an Oscar nomination), “Cape Fear,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Casino,” “Kundun,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” “Gangs of New York” (for which she received the ACE Eddie Award and was nominated for an Academy Award), “Shutter Island,” “Hugo” (for which she received another Oscar nomination), “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Silence.”
In addition to her film editing, Schoonmaker works tirelessly to promote the films and writings of her late husband, the director Michael Powell, among them “The Red Shoes,” “Black Narcissus,” “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” “I Know Where I’m Going,” “A Matter of Life and Death,” “Tales of Hoffmann,” and “Peeping Tom.”
Editing Killers of the Flower MoonIn our discussion with KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON editor Thelma Schoonmaker ACE, we talk about:
- Leaning into the love story
- When to cut to DiCaprio or DeNiro
- Scorsese's shooting style
- The structural perfection of Goodfellas
- Twelve cuts to completion
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