A Grim Blood-Orgy of Conflicting Motives and Polarizing Loyalty. (Review of John Hillcoat's 2005 film "The Proposition")

Mostly spoiler free, with a few passing references to the events of the film.

Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), a shameless rapist and murderer, stares into the crepuscular light of the Australian sunset with two of his fellow outlaws, one a sturdy Aboriginal man named Two-Bob (Tom E. Lewis) and the other a scrawny Irishman named Samuel Stoat (Tom Budge), all-the-while philosophizing and quoting fine poetry, his soul's thirsts easily quenched by the beauty of nature. Upon using the word "misanthropes", Sam asks Arthur what it means. Two-Bob interjects, saying that a misanthrope is "some bugger who fuckin' hates every other bugger." Arthur agrees. Then Sam asks "Is that what we are? Misanthropes?" and Arthur is shocked. "Good lord, no!" he exclaims in a whisper, "We're a family!"

Then they ride.

This concise exchange seems to be the heart of what The Proposition is about: Loyalty and family. The Proposition is a woebegone Western set in the 1880s in a location that breaks the conventions of the already-loose genre: the outback of Australia. We have the lawmen, the bandits, the rebellious natives, the oppressive sun, the uncivilized frontier, and the vicious wildlife that is sometimes indistinguishable from the men around it; but it's all in Australia. And though we still have stubble-sporting, gun-slinging, stetson-wearing, cig-smoking men who live fearlessly on the edge of the known world, The Proposition resembles Joseph Conrad's literary masterpiece Heart of Darkness more than it resembles a Sergio Leone flick.



Cinematographer Benoît Delhomme sets up each shot like a Realist painting with all the zeal of Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), one of the film's main characters, an Übermensch of a lawman determined to "civilize" Australia who, upon being told by outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce)that he is "a copper... not a judge and jury", replies that "Clearly, Mr. Burns, I am what I wish to be."



The multi-talented Nick Cave provides both the screenplay and the musical score for this film, and I've got to applaud the guy because I'm having trouble deciding whether or not his deep-yet-concise dialogue is more compelling than his trippy and haunting score.

Acting is excellent all-around, and though there are no show-stealers, Huston may have changed that had he gotten more screen time.



John Hillcoat ties the talents of his crew together into one clean-cut piece of cinematic art, proving to be an excellent director with this being only his third film in a career that started in 1988 with his Ghosts... of the Civil Dead.

The Proposition is a grim blood-orgy of conflicting motives and polarizing loyalty and an original Western that takes time away from its main thesis to be humorously unsettling and analyze other philosophical issues with such subtlety that the audience can feel thought-provoked without feeling patronized.

This film however, is not for the weak-stomached. The violence is so frequent and filmed with such aesthetic care that those with frail dispositions who haven't already fainted like Captain Stanley's wife during Mikey Burns's flogging may find the film tasteless. I am understanding but am inclined to disagree.

Excellent film worth multiple viewings. Quiet and intense with sporadic shocks throughout.