Martin Scorsese was “drawn” to the idea of shedding light on the series of murders of Osage Native Americans during the early 20th century through his latest release Killers of the Flower Moon, the veteran filmmaker said in a behind-the-scenes video shared by actor Leonardo DiCaprio on Saturday.

“I was drawn to the idea of telling this terribly tragic story that was never put to national attention,” Scorsese said in the video, discussing the film with DiCaprio.

The video begins with a scene from the film where Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) returns from World War I to live with his brother Byron and uncle William ‘King’ Hale (Robert De Niro) on the latter’s ranch. It then cuts to scenes where several Osage men and women were found dead in deserted places.

“The Osage reign of terror was a fascinating piece of American history,” said Leonardo in the video, adding how Martin was “obsessed” with telling the story with “the most honesty he possibly could”.

The film, which is streaming on Apple TV+ following its October 20 release, throws light on the rampant killing of Osage Native American tribes who were targeted for their valuable oil wealth, mostly by non-indigenous people seeking to inherit their oil reserves.

Showing scenes which highlight the socio-political problems of the time as well as Ernest sharing intimate moments with his love interest Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Scorsese said in a voiceover, “I was drawn to this world where friendship and love existed with latent extortion, exploitation and murder.”

Ernest was encouraged by her uncle, Hale, to marry Mollie in order to get her family’s shares of oil profits. Posing as a friend of the Osage community, Hale covertly planned the deaths of several wealthy tribals. As Mollie’s family members fell sick one by one, Hale told Ernest that he would inherit more rights to their oil shares if more of her loved ones died.

“Hale was a very enigmatic presence in the Osage country,” Lily mentioned in the video. “He definitely represented somebody who wanted to take advantage of the situation at all costs,” Leonardo said, while intense scenes featuring Hale and Ernest played in the video.

“There was a need to tell this story from Martin Scorsese. There was something intrinsic in him to do the story justice,” Leonardo said, as behind-the-scenes footage of the film were shown. “I wanted to do justice to the Osage, so that audiences could feel the intensity of the tragedy,” Scorsese said, concluding the video.

Killers of the Flower Moon is written by Eric Roth and Scorsese. Also featuring Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Jillian Dion and Brendan Fraser, the film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20 and garnered immense critical acclaim.