Damn, what a staggering piece of cinema. Scorsese serves up an uncompromising history lesson while exploring different shades of evil. One who is so cold, calculating and believes to be righteous. The other who is in denial of their own culpability.
It’s been a long time that a film elicited such strong emotions throughout and stunned me into sitting in silence for the entire end credits. The profound relief when Mollie is finally taken from the house to end her physical suffering, and the devastation in the final scene between Mollie and Ernest where she realizes the man she had loved unconditionally was beyond redemption.
DeNiro is chilling in portraying the conviction and remorseless behind his character’s lies and manipulation. The penetrating sadness of Lily Gladstone’s eyes leave an indelible mark. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers his most transformative role since The Aviator and without question in his top 3 performances (along with Revolutionary Road/The Aviator for me).
Sorry, cgpublic, but I can’t imagine this being as gripping if it had centered on Tom White and the FBI rather than this very tragic love story.
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