The Proposition
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Movie Reviews of The Proposition
Movie Review: The Australian Outback Is the New Frontier for Westerns.
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Proposition" is a fable set in the Australian outback of the late 19th century -a Western from Down Under. With its homesteading, gold rushes, outlaws, idealists, and clashes between European and native cultures, Australia is an ideal setting for a Western. Its social intricacies and harsh realities are similar to those in the U.S. at the same time, and the landscape is equally parched but more beautiful than the American Southwest. At the request of director John Hillcoat, Australian musician Nick Cave wrote his first screenplay for this film as well as its score.
The massacre of a homesteading family by the outlaw Burns Gang has put Captain Morris Stanley (Ray Winstone), the British military officer in charge of law enforcement in the nearby town, under considerable pressure to bring the gang to justice. Realizing that this will require more inventive methods than a respectable man would normally entertain, Stanley makes Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) a proposition: Stanley will let Charlie go and hold his simple-minded teenaged brother Mikey (Richard Wilson) in custody. Mikey will be executed on Christmas Day unless Charlie can find and kill his charismatic brother Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), the leader of the gang whom Stanley calls "a monster and an abomination". Charlie has 9 days to kill Arthur or young Mikey will hang. Meanwhile, the town's first citizen Eden Fletcher (David Wenham) is demanding blood.
Though it is imperfect, "The Proposition" is certainly thought-provoking. I found some of the characters contrived and theatrical. And the film alludes to a lot of aboriginal issues and frontier history that Australian audiences will know more about than Americans. But the story raises basic questions of human adaptation and what it means to be "civilized". Captain Stanley and his genteel wife Martha (Emily Watson) have been cast into an infernal environment of foreign culture, lawlessness, ambition, ineptitude, horrible violence and oppressive heat. "I will civilize this place," Stanley proclaims. Though he resists abandoning his British concept of justice, perhaps naively, Stanley's attempt to adapt to his new environment instigates the events of the film: He makes Charlie Burns a Proposition.
Stanley's gracious wife Martha represents civilization in this anarchic land. Her well-kept home and gentle manner seem to imply higher ideals than harsh reality will accept. But her insistence upon vengeance for her murdered friend and her willingness to exploit her husband's devotion to get it betray a crack in civilization's façade. Moviegoers may feel that Hollywood has run its course with Westerns and has little left to say. I wonder if charting new territory in American Westerns is simply too politically risky. But I have high hopes for Australian "Westerns". The land is beautiful, and the moral ambiguities and ethical dilemmas posed by disparate cultures and purposes are ripe for a screenwriter's picking. I hope "The Proposition" will be part of a large, successful genre in Australian filmmaking.
The DVD (First Look Pictures 2006): "Behind the Scenes" is a documentary in 5 parts: In "Making Of" (27 min), director John Hillcoat and writer Nick Cave talk about their inspiration for the story, the cast discusses their characters, the environment in Australia of the 1880s, and filming in the outback. "Info & Script" (6 min) has some redundancies with "Making Of", but, in addition, the actors talk about the script. In "Characters" (11 min), the cast elaborates a little more on their roles. "Research and History" (18 min) is about preparation, authenticity, and production design. The conversation in "Themes" (8 min) is with John Hillcoat and Nick Cave. There is an audio commentary with director John Hillcoat and writer/composer Nick Cave. Cave comments on the music and how he structured the story. Hillcoat discusses locations, sets, actors, historical references, and the impact of the heat on filming. There is also a Photo Gallery of 18 production stills and behind-the-scenes photos, and there are some Deleted Scenes. English captions and Spanish subtitles are available for the film.
Movie Review: A revisionist Western with rich character development
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a brutal and bleak Western set in Australia. The Burns brothers Arthur (Danny Huston), Charlie (Guy Pearce), and Mike(Richard Wilson) have just raped and killed a pregnant woman; and two of the Burns brothers have just been captured by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) after a big shootout. Captain Stanley gives Charlie a proposition; within 9 days he is to go find his brother Arthur and bring him to the authorities; in exchange, Mike won't be hanged on Christmas day and Charlie will receive a pardon. Charlie sets off and goes find his brother; meanwhile the town and the mayor in charge is upset in hearing about his proposition and wants justice to be done. Capt. Stanley is caught in a terrible situation; meanwhile the Burns brother reunited and they go back to the town to find their little brother Mikey; the movie ends with a violent confrontation and a surprise ending.
Many of the reviewers have done a great job in explaining the main story line, so I won't repeat that. What I would like to describe are the interesting aspects of this Western that are novel and seldom seen in other Westerns:
a) The clash with being "civilized" in a region raised on violence -- Capt. Stanley wishes to civilize the town; that's why he proposes a proposition instead of dealing brutally with the Burns brothers. Captain Stanley and his wife want to be civilized, but it is like swimming upstream in a raging river -- the townspeople live on violence and demand brutal justice.
Australia is depicted in a very bleak light. It is a violent frontier even more extreme than that of the U.S. There is no law, people live by the gun, and townspeople demand swift and brutal justice. There is violence done to the aborigines by the white folk, and death is everywhere along with all the flies. It is a wilderness of death.
b) Multi-dimensional character development
Both the "good" guys and the "bad" guys display good and bad characteristics.
The authorities (whom we would normally associate as the good guys) are clearly not good. They are brutal and bloodthirsty. They make foolish decisions which have tragic consequences. Captain Stanley is a tragic man; he wants to do what is good but he is not allowed to make a civilized proposition due to the pressure made by the mayor and the bloodthirsty deputies. Captain Stanley dearly loves his wife Martha and wishes to protect her from all the evil but he is barely able to do that.
The Burns brothers, despite being psychopathic killers, have their own "moral" code and have a close knit sense of family and brotherhood. The older brother, Arthur, shows deep affection for his younger brothers and want to have close family ties. It's just that Arthur gets crazy when he gets mad and then goes into a killing frenzy. Charlie is a man born in the wrong family and with the wrong brothers. He is clearly bothered by the grisly murders his brothers committed and he is a man with a conscience.
Even the most psychopathic of the Burns gang (Samuel, a demented teenager who does most of the raping) can spout eloquent poetry and sing a touching song.
I agree with reviewers who note the similarities between this movie and "Unforgiven" -- both are revisionist Westerns, both deal with the themes of retribution and revenge, and the characters display both good/evil aspects. This movie is much bleaker though than "Unforgiven."
I thought that John Hillcoat did a great job of directing this movie. The script and the storytelling were great. The movie is very grisly in its violence but it is not gratuitous or excessively gory.
I enjoyed the 5 part special features on the Making of the Movie, which features good interviews with the director and the cast members.
If you want to watch an interesting Western rich in character development, watch this one. Don't watch it if you're depressed though. The violence may be too intense for people under 13.
Movie Review: violent art western from Down Under
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Proposition" is a grim, atmospheric western set not on the American frontier but rather in the Australian outback of the 1880's.
Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) is a police officer sent from England to impose law and order on the largely uncivilized populace inhabiting that newly settled region of the world (his jurisdiction includes aborigine natives as well as the recently arrived whites). Those orders set Stanley in direct opposition to the Burns Gang, a notorious band of thieves and cutthroats comprised of three Irish brothers who are suspected in the rape and murder of one of the most prominent and influential families in the territory. After Stanley captures two of the men, he imprisons one - the weak, sniveling Mikey - and frees the other, Charlie (Guy Pearce), threatening to hang Mikey if Charlie fails to hunt down and kill the third brother, Arthur, purported to be the vile ringleader of the group. Thus is set into motion a brutal, violent tale of revenge and justice that soaks the exquisite Australian landscape in generous helpings of blood and gore.
"The Proposition" is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, as it literally rubs our noses in the violence it is portraying. In vivid, unflinching detail, the movie captures the inhumanity and bloodshed perpetrated by the characters on one another throughout the course of the story. Stanley is an unlikely central figure for the tale, since even though he begins as a hardnosed, unyielding stickler for law and order, he turns out, in the long run, to be one of the most reasoned and restrained players in the drama. In fact, he faces intense opposition from the townsfolk for being too lenient with his prisoners and too slow in exacting justice for the horrible crimes committed. Stanley, who is also deeply devoted to his loving wife, stands as a kind of transitional figure linking the barbarous past with the hopefully more "civilized" future of this continent uniquely tucked away in its own little corner of the world.
The second major character is Charlie, who has to decide between betraying his older brother by killing him in cold blood or letting his younger brother swing at the end of a rope if he doesn`t. Unfortunately, Charlie is not nearly as fully developed a character as Stanley is, nor is his moral dilemma as clearly developed or dramatized either. We don't get the sense that we know much about Charlie even after we have spent quite a bit of time with him which is a shame since his thought processes and actions are pivotal to understanding the outcome of the story. Perhaps more successful is the portrayal of Stanley's wife, Martha (Emily Watson), who is torn between her innate compassion for humanity and her desire to have her dear friend's death avenged by the public execution of the men responsible for the heinous crime.
What distinguishes "The Proposition" from so many other westerns is its deliberate moral ambiguity, its recognition that people don't always fit into nicely wrapped packages of good and evil, and that fairness and justice are not always the clear-cut commodities we've been taught to believe they are from literature and movies. And all this is done against a stark natural landscape that stands as a mute, indifferent witness to the insanity of the humans' actions.
Pearce, Watson and, especially, Winstone deliver remarkably restrained, understated performances as the three main characters caught up in the drama. After all, with all the blood and carnage up there on the screen, the last thing the film needs is a bunch of over-emoting actors adding to the excess of it all.
"The Proposition" is clearly not for everyone, but diehard Western aficionados would be remiss in not seeing it.
Movie Review: Powerful character (and violence driven) western
Summary: 4 Stars
A riveting powerful Australian western "The Proposition" recalls the operatic grandeur of Sam Peckinpah's best work. Outlaws Charlie (Guy Pearce) and teenage Mikey Burns (Richard Wilson) are captured by outback police Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). Both face hanging but Stanley offers Charlie a deal; if Charlie hunts down and kills his psychotic brother Arthur, he'll spare their lives and pardon them. The duo split with Arthur (Danny Huston) after he led an attack on homesteaders raping and killing the members of a family and he's managed to elude the authorities and bounty hunters successfully by hiding in the mountains. If Charlie doesn't return by Christmas he'll have Mickey's death on his conscience. Stanley finds dealing with the elements and the violence of a frontier increasingly isolates him from his wife (Emily Watson) and threatens to destroy his life.
Filled with some powerful performances "The Proposition" won't be for everyone. It's a violent western with few characters that have any socially redeeming value. Every one of the actors makes of the most of their roles with brooding Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone doing terrific work. Danny Huston's Arthur is a combination of psychopath/philosopher/poet as he lays waste to everything he touches including his own family. Emily Watson also should also be mentioned for playing a character who's life has largely been sheltered by her husband and family. She must come to grips with a tragedy that has unbalanced her life and emotions.
"The Proposition" receives a stunning transfer that beautifully captures the devastated landscape of rural Australia. The rustic colors deep rich yellows of the sandy landscape vividly come to life in this top notch DVD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks both sound terrific particularly during the action sequences and the conclusion of the film. You'll feel like you're lost in this barren landscape with bullets whizzing past your ears. There's also a very good 2.0 stereo soundtrack as well.
We get a wealth of special features for such a low profile film. The audio commentary by director Hillcoat and musician/writer Nick Cave is filled with trivia about the time, inspiration and difficulty in achieving the authentic look and feel of 1880's Australia. We also get a number of deleted scenes that fill in the background on the film (one of which probably should have been included as it helps to clarify Charlie's guilt and feelings of remorse). There are also five featurettes on the making of the movie which total about 75 minutes. The first focuses on the making of the film including background on the genesis of Nick Cave's script. We also get separate sections on "Characters" where the actor's give their feelings about the roles they play, "Research" which looks into the time the film is set and a section on the themes explored in the film where the cast and crew give their take on the ultimate meaning of "The Proposition". We also get four trailers although curiously not one for this film.
A powerful film and one of the best to glide briefly into theaters earlier in the year "The Proposition" is beautifully rendered in this top notch transfer. With solid extras complex performances (Winstone, Huston, Pearce and Watson) this is one proposition you'll have a hard time turning down.
Movie Review: "I will tame this savage country!"
Summary: 4 Stars
From watching Director John Hillcoat's harsh Western The Proposition you'd never figure that Australia - once England's rag-tag colonial outpost and dumping ground for all the trash - would eventually become one of the most prestigious and wealthiest countries in the world with a standard of living that is unparalleled anywhere.
In this film we see a portrait of Australia on the brink, it's the 1880s and it's a dark and bleak time where violence is a way of life and where the English settlers are trying to forge out a way of life that doesn't fit with the harshness of the landscape. Bringing the stink, the blood, the ramshackle homes and the flies and dust to life, The Proposition centers on the grizzled British lawman Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) as he tries to bring his version of frontier justice to his patch of wild Australia.
Stanley is prepared to strike a deal, a "proposition" with outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce), to spare Charlie's younger bother Mikey (Richard Wilson) from the gallows, if Charlie will track down and kill his older brother, Arthur (Danny Huston), a vicious murderer. As Charlie races against time to find Arthur he travels into the treacherous outback where he is attacked and wounded by Aborigines but saved by Arthur, who takes Charlie to his hideout.
A bounty hunter (marvelously played by John Hurt) nearly captures the entire gang before Arthur again saves his brother. Charlie's venture is juxtaposed with the awkwardly tender home life of Stanley where he struggles to shield his innocent wife Martha (Emily Watson) from the harsh realities of this brutal land. Mostly, he wants to keep from her the truth about what happened a close friend of hers who was raped and killed by Arthur Burns.
Of course the white man's strained relationship with the aborigines is highlighted with a subplot involving Stanley's superior, Fletcher (David Wenham) who not only pressures Stanley to do something about a group of renegade Aborigines, but also incites a mob into flog Mikey nearly to death in front of Martha, which dooms the proposition.
The actors are marvelous here, with Winstone and Watson stealing the show as Stanley and Martha. You really get the feel that they're both a fish out of water in this hellish environment, but for different reasons. The hushed, courteous interaction between the couple is splendid, the actors creating a complex dynamic of a husband trying to shield his porcelain bride from the world's cruelty, yet also coming to realize his wife is far less fragile than he believed.
The problem with The Proposition is that the story is a bit disjointed and at times is hard to follow with the writer Nick Cave laying on all the heavy handed polemics and arty symbolism a bit too heavily - there's lots of sitting around wistfully looking at sunsets etc. As the violent tragedy unfolds and characters - especially the Burns brothers - advance toward their destinies, the story explores the dark side of a history too often shimmering in myth.
What emerges in The Proposition is a country all too often on the brink, a savage and repressive environment and an ugly reminder that nation building is chaotic and often an endeavor that is saturated in blood, brutality and sacrifice. Mike Leonard September 06.