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You can count Steven Spielberg as a fan of Killers of the Flower Moon, to say the least.
During a recent Q&A session at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles following a screening of Killers of the Flower Moon, Spielberg showered his longtime friend and cinematic peer Martin Scorsese in praise, even going so far as calling his latest film his “masterpiece.”
“For me, this is just an exceptional experience, watching your film. You know how I feel about all of your films, but this one stands out in a way for me that’s so impactful. It’s an epic journey, but it’s not a Hollywood epic, for me; it’s a humanitarian epic… You are the master of our medium, and this is your masterpiece, Marty,” Spielberg said during the pair’s Q&A session at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles earlier in November.
Spielberg certainly isn’t alone in his praise of Killers of the Flower Moon, as the film not only has a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it’s also expected to compete in numerous categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Despite the fact that he’s widely considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of American cinema, Scorsese actually has just one win for Best Director, and that was for 2006’s The Departed, which many film buffs suggest was a result of The Academy trying to make up for the times they’ve spurned him in the past.
In fact, Spielberg was actually on stage when Scorsese accepted the Oscar for Best Director, as he presented it to him alongside fellow cinematic titans Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
Both Spielberg and Scorsese have been nominated for Best Director nine times, which puts them in second place all-time behind only William Wyler (director of Ben-Hur, among other classics). If Scorsese scores a nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon, however, he’ll take over sole possession of second place.