The Proposition

Stars : Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, David Wenham, John Hurt

Directed By: John Hillcoat
Released by: UK Film Council, TV1

Australia was once a wild, rugged, lawless place, where settlers and convicts alike battled to survive. The Proposition makes you feel as if you just stepped off the boat with them. It's an engaging, tense and visually stunning film, that captures the essense of early, colonial Australia. Though certainly not a film for the faint hearted, as it is at times extremely graphically violent, it manages to still exhibit a beauty and elegance of a much softer storyline, thanks to stunning locations in Outback Queensland, and very impressive cinematography. It's good to see movies such as this in the Top Ten for the Australian Box Office, movies with good Australian actors, plotlines and settings. It fully deserves its 12 AFI nominations, and is a very encouraging sign that Australian cinema is far from dead.

The Proposition tells the story of Charlie Burns (Pearce) an outlaw who is captured with his brother Michael (Richard Wilson) during a shootout with state policetroopers. The trooper's Commander, Police Captain Stanley(Winstone), presents Charlie with a proposition. If Charlie can find and kill his estranged elder brother Arthur, leader of the Burns Gang of which Charlie was once a member, he and Mike will be saved from hanging. Charlie is given the nine days until Christmas to find one brother, in order to save another. We follow Charlie through ruggedly charming outback landscapes, as he ventures deeper into the unknown to complete his deadly mission. It's a compelling storyline, and with very fine performances from all the leads, it's a wonderful viewing experience.

Emily Watson shines as Captain Stanley's wife, Martha. Fiercely loyal to her husband, but longing for the life she left behind in England, Watson's Martha evokes sympathy and empathy. David Wenham puts in an almost comical turn as the local police commisioner, delivering the part with mannerisms not unlike Richard Roxborough's "Duke" in Moulin Rouge. English veteran John Hurt also makes an engaging cameo as an old English "treasure hunter", who ended up in a lonely outback bar drowning his sorrows day after day. The best perfomance however, is that of Winstone, as the man risking his career to try and land the ultimate catch. He gives us a Captain Stanley who is both vastly experienced and yet out of his element, and this conflict exists both in his actions and within the man himself. We see the strain he is under, and you can't help but get a sense for the weight of the burden he bares. The people who find themselves in this nameless town, do not really wish to be there.

The film gradually builds to an impressive finale, with the final few minutes intense and gripping cinema. The movie pulls no punches, with director Hillcoat often showing what you think he won't. Nothing is left to the imagination in his representation of the violence of these unpredicatable times. This by no means overshadows the rest of the movie, and though dark in its themes, the movie still manages to insert messgaes of hope, and indeed one of reconciliation. The portrayal of the Aboriginal characters is intruiging, as is their relationship with the settlers around them.

This is a very impressive film, a thought provoking drama, as well as a new age western thriller, though with more realism than a Hollywood experience. It's Australian cinema back to its best, and its clash with Little Fish (13 nominations) will be interesting to watch come AFI Awards night. The haunting, mysterious score from Australian pop artist Nick Cave fits in nicely with the script and enhances the viewing experience. If on the lookout for a good night at the movies, with a distinctly Australian feel, look no further than this. You won't be disappointed.


out of ten

Reviewed by Nick Bailey

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