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Genre: Drama/Australian Western Director: John Hillcoat Certificate: The Proposition was rated 16 by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 16 years of age or upwards. Violence = strong. Drugs = none. Sex/Nudity = moderate. Language = strong. |
A superb if harrowing revenge Western... albeit one set in Australia in the 1880's. Ray Winstone plays Capt Stanley, an English copper trying to civilise the outback and bring to justice a violent gang of brothers. He captures the two younger brothers, Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and Mickey (Richard Wilson) who is no more than a boy and he makes Charlie a proposition - he will hang Mickey on Christmas day unless Charlie kills the eldest brother Arthur and thus sets in motion a train of bloody retribution. Charlie and Mickey have split from Arthur as his methods have become increasingly violent leading to the slaughter of an entire family. So with the entire town out for blood, Stanley's choice will lead him into conflict. Meanwhile Charlie has to weigh the death of one brother against another... What makes it so good are the characters - Winstone plays Stanley as a thuggish Policeman and you initially see him as another of his hardman creations but as the film progresses he is seen as a deeply troubled man - troubled by the lawless violent society he sees all around him and troubled by his responses to it. He has been joined by his refined wife Martha (an excellent Emily Watson) who at first seems to jar with what is going on around her - you realise this is deliberate. Surrounded by savagery she maintains a genteel Victorian style - all fine bone china and rose gardens – it’s the only way she can shield herself (and too a lesser extent her husband) from the reality of where they find themselves. Even the Burns brothers are more complex - as mentioned Mickey is a scared kid and Arthur (Danny Huston) may be a blood soaked Irish savage but he's one who will trade lines of poetry with his victims - even as he cuts them up... and John Hurt turns up as crazed bounty hunter with a nice line in quotations. It’s a brutal savage film but very cleverly written by Nick Cave (who also did the haunting soundtrack) and beautifully shot - the outback is a place of stark beauty - a starkness reflected in men's souls... as Stanley says in the opening scene “Ah Australia. What fresh Hell is this”? Very good indeed! Reviewed by George Kaplan, Premier Movie Reviews 2006. RELATED MOVIE REVIEWS: GUY PEARCE: The Time Machine. RAY WINSTONE: Cold Mountain, King Arthur, The Departed, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (voice). DANNY HUSTON: Birth, The Aviator. JOHN HURT: Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, The Skeleton Key. DAVID WENHAM: Moulin Rouge, Pure, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers. EMILY WATSON: Gosford Park, Red Dragon. |
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Guy Pearce Ray Winstone
Danny Huston John Hurt David Wenham Emily Watson Richard Wilson |
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
