The Proposition (2006)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

The Proposition is one of the darkest movies I have ever seen. Set in the outback Australia, The Proposition stars Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns. A man who has been sent by the local law enforcement (Ray Winstone) to hunt down and kill his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston) in exchange for a pardon for both him and his younger brother Mickey. The conflict escalates from their.The movie benefits strongly from breathtaking cinematography and mesmerizing performances all around. In particular Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, and Emily Watson are just magnificent as the main characters of the film. John Hurt also turns in an unforgettable cameo as an aging bounty hunter. The movie has a couple narrative problems, and there are a handful of scenes that feel unnecessarily drawn out or just unnecessary all together. Overall however the story manages to be compelling throughout especially thanks to its three dimensional, complex characters. The Proposition is a relentlessly dark film. Filled with graphic violence and many scenes where characters are either in physical or emotional pain. But its a compelling enough watch to make it worth sitting through. At least for me.

This is a modern-day western which shocks the viewer with its heady doses of on screen violence and enthrals the audience with a simple, effective plot line. Essentially, the story involves three brothers and the lawman trying to bring them to justice; it sounds straightforward on the page, but Nick Cave's screenplay works hard to establish characters and the result is a film with fully three-dimensional people. It's hard to find anything to criticise about this production; everything, from the technical qualities to the acting, ranges from the above-average to the excellent. There's a truly haunting soundtrack which accompanies the excellent cinematography, showing the harshness of the Australian outback, and the eerie, desolate atmosphere is second to none.The violence in the film is brutal and shocking, coming in short, unexpected bursts. It's also original, with little in the way of stand-offs and shoot-outs. This is a film where people are painted in shades of grey and everybody has to face the repercussions of their own actions. Ray Winstone gives the standout performance as the violent lawman who kicks the plot off; he seems to be a villain, but the film soon reveals his humanity as well, and he steals every scene with his powerful performance that's full of emotion. Guy Pearce is the nominal hero, and he's far from attractive: lean, almost half-hearted, and hairy and dirty, his is the iconic man-with-no-name type role. The movie has fun showing his character, keeping the audience guessing as to his true intentions, and his actions at the end are great – this film ends on a real high with a fitting climax that just works and works. Emily Watson is also very good and moving as Winstone's put-upon wife.Of the rest of the supporting players, Danny Huston excels in his small role as the violent elder brother; John Hurt has fun hamming it up in a cameo appearance as a bounty hunter, and David Wenham plays snivelling evil as a moustachioed pencil-pusher. Essentially this film stands as a series of iconic images and set-pieces, some of which are burnt into my mind even now: the aborigine's head exploding against the skyline, the brutality of the climax; the whipping scene, which is much less gory but somehow makes more of an impact than the one in THE PASSION OF THE Christ. Altogether this is a stylish, excellently-made modern-day western with plenty of reasons to be watched.

Few westerns get as bleak, hopeless and depressing as John Hillcoat's achingly beautiful The Proposition. It puts us in colonial Australia, where British immigrants live, restless in their empty, harsh new land, and prone to troublesome, destructive behaviour. Guy Pearce plays Charlie Burns, a ruthless outlaw. When his young brother is captured by menacing lawman Stanley (Ray Winstone), he's given a deal: find their even worse, murdering brother Danny Burns (Danny Huston), or hang with his brother. This sets an ambient chase in motion across the dusty outback. This is no streamlined action opus though. It ambles along like a 3 wheeled cart, taking its time getting where it's going and making uncomfortable pauses to dwell on the brutality that befalls the characters. Where other directors would shy away and show something off screen, Hillcoat refuses to compromise, keeping his camera dead center on the atrocities, which makes for uncomfortable viewing, but always compelling. Huston makes a cunning monster of Danny, a vicious outlaw with neither compassion nor remorse. Winstone finds himself at odds with his wife (Emily Watson) who finds his methods too harsh, but has no notion of the lengths the outlaws go, and how bad it can get, until they're at her door in a nauseating sequence that encapsulates the bitter tone. Pearce makes a silent but deadly gunslinger, saying more in a shift of horse or twitch of his grimy trigger finger than could be written in volumes. John Hurt shows up as a drunken old coot, and David Wenham makes a wormy high ranking official. Hillcoat combs the restless wisps of mist that shroud barren rock faces as well as he navigates the weathered and world weary mugs of his terrific troupe of actors, creating a hard luck, take no prisoners, kick in the nuts of a western that will entrance and exhaust you emotionally. Alternative maestro Nick Cave turns in a spine chilling spoken word original score that coasts on the hoof beats, gunshots, screams, whiplashes and devilish deeds of the lost souls in this uncompromising tale.

THE PROPOSITION has a great premise. An outlaw is captured alongside his younger brother. The Policeman who did it offers him the titular proposition. Find and kill his elder brother- or else the younger brother will be hanged .Sadly despite this excellent premise and an interesting setting - a Western set in the Victorian Australian Outback - the film throws it all away with poor plotting, uninteresting characters, a lack of respect for those it portrays and an over-long running time.The number one problem is that the screenplay becomes far too interested in the Policeman (Ray Winstone) and places his story on par with that of the Outlaw (Guy Pearce). Instantly the story becomes over-long in order to accommodate this second major plot. It doesn't help that, unlike the Outlaw, the Policeman has no real goal to achieve, no stakes, indeed, nothing much to do at all. This also results in a lack of characterisation for the Outlaw. Stripped of dialogue you cannot care about this enigma of a man, whilst the central question of the film - will he kill his elder brother to save his younger brother? - is never sufficiently teased. The film makes a number of other missteps. It asks the audience to sympathise with the elder brother, despite him being a murderer and a rapist (and showing no real remorse for either). It forces modern attitudes on the past, notably in the corporal punishment scene where the (mentally retarded) younger brother is whipped. At the beginning the crowd cheer but by the end they drift away, sickened. Not only does this not make sense (why the change?) but it is also historically dishonest. Victorians were quite happy with corporal punishment. The disgust of the crowd is that of the filmmakers, not that of the historical people. It also continues the tedious trend of self-hating imperial films in which all the white male characters are swine whilst women and natives are wise and sympathetic (the only character I cared about was the almost silent Aborigine tracker- who was promptly murdered).Nick Cave did the music, which all to often means long, slow, unnecessary shots of Australia set to music. Once might have been fine but every time the story starts moving they throw another of these boring musical pauses in. A handful of sub plots, such as John Hurt's character, serve only to eke out more running time. This film should stand as a perfect example of how 'artiness' can ruin a film.