Review of The Proposition (2005) by Jimmy L — 05 Jan 2010

I read a recent article under the news section of RT, and it concerned the demise of director John Hillcoat's next movie, "The Promised Land". The sad news made me remeber this incredible film directed by Hillcoat and I decided to try and spread the word to the very limited amount of people I know on this site. The Proposition is an interesting film, actually, interesting might be an understatement. It is a western that does not take place in the American West, but in the Austrailian Outback. It is also not the glorious, romanticized, John Wayne version of the western; it is a dark, brutal, ultra-gritty and realistic portrayl of the time period.

The story concerns three brothers, all three of them are criminals and outlaws. The film opens with a bloody stand off between a gang of outlaws and the law enforcers of the area. All of the criminals are killed except for two, Charlie(the awesome Guy Pearce) and Mikey. The Captain of the law enforcers is Morris Stanley(Ray Winstone). Stanley has been tasked with bringing peace to the brutal land of the Outback(British prisoners were often sent to Australia instead of prisons, which meant that the Outback had quite a few criminals roaming it that were able to adapt to the harsh conditions), and he needs Charlie's help. Charlie and Mikey are brothers, part of the infamous Burns brother gang, but they parted ways with their older brother Arthur(Danny Huston), who is psychopath. Arthur has another gang now and is still terrorizing the outback. So Stanley makes Charlie a difficult proposition: if Charlie will kill his older brother Arthur, then he will let his younger brother Mikey live, as well as give Charlie a clean slate. Charlie has nine days to find and kill Arthur before Mikey will be hung back at the town. Decisions, decisions, right?

Those that need a great, likeable hero for a movie or story, will probably not like this movie because Charlie is not a goody two shoes, he is a bad, bad man who has done bad, bad things. That said, Pearce plays him brilliantly as a man who is in a moral bind as he decides what to do with the situation that has been given to him; one of his brothers is going to die, and he will be responsible for their death. Ray Winstone is also great as the Captain. He wants to bring order to the Outback because it is now the place that him and his beloved wife call home, and he does not want to worry about rapists and murderers for his entire life. Danny Huston's character Arthur makes up the last of the main trio and he is brilliant as a sadistic lunatic who is truely evil. Great performances from the rest of the supporting cast make this a magnificient film in terms of acting power.

The direction here is also amazing, Hillcoat's vision of the 1880's Outback is simultaneously beautiful and dreadful as he combines the stunning imagery of the Outback with his bleak and uncompromisingly dark vision. The way Hillcoat displays violence is sure to shock many as well, as he does not hold back and shows the horror of violence in all its visciousness and brutality, it more than earned its R-rating for strong grisly violence. That said, Hillcoat did not make a slasher-western; he shows horrorific images, but does not exploit them for cheap thrills or shocks; Hillcoat is smart enough as a filmaker to know when to give the viewer glimpses of the gory carnage and when to hold back and let the imagination do the work. The other thing that sets the violence apart in the film is the feeling that it exudes; the murders are not exilarating like an action film or horror flick, but truely make the skin crawl from the sound of flesh ripping and bone shattering. Hillcoat is one of the few filmakers who can make a repulsively violent film without it being repulsive, that says a lot about his talent as a filmaker. One last thing to add about the violence, eventhough I have dedicated a large section of this review to it, and the film itself is very violent, this is not a nonstop blood bath, in fact the body count is in the single didgits; the reason this movie is considered so violent is the nature of the violence and how it is presented very powerfully in all its ugliness, without being distasteful.

Musician Nick Cave did the music for this movie, and his influence on the music gives the film a surreal feeling at parts that makes it an even greater film experience as well as more original. Cave also wrote the script, which is simply fantastic. Too bad Cave does not do more work in film, as there would be a lot more interesting films coming out. One thing that might frustrate some viewers is that although the movie is set in Australia and everyone speaks English in it, the accents are very thick, so thick in fact that people not accustomed to heavy Aussie accents might have to turn on the subtitles(I did, but subtitiles do not bother me). The heavy accents give the movie an added realism though, and support Hillcoat's gritty vision perfectly.

Overall, this is a very good, if not great movie. Some may not like the grimness of it or its unflinching violence, but for those that want to take a walk on the dark side of humanity and experience a different kind of movie, I highly recommend this film. Thumbs up!