The Proposition is not a Western in the traditional sense. It doesn’t glorify the appeal of pistol-fights and the cowboy’s pride in last-man-standing duels; two things that are pretty much staples of the genre. As a matter of fact, it subverts the expectations that comes with it, and ends up being a solemn, meditative piece with a firm stance on anti-violence. It would not be inappropriate, even, to call The Proposition an anti-Western. It’s moody, hypnotic, surreal, and cynical to the bone.
The story, set in the uncivilized Australian Outback of the late 19th century, concerns a proposition that lawman Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) offers to notorious bandit Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce), following his capture for the alleged rape-and-murder of an innocent family by the Burns Brothers gang. The deal is for Charlie to track down and kill his psychopath brother Arthur (Danny Huston) -- whom the local Aborigines dubbed “The Dog” for his legendary viciousness -- in exchange for Charlie’s freedom and that of their gullibly innocent teenage brother Mikey Burns. Charlie has nine days to do the deed, or Mikey would be hanged on Christmas Day.
The script, by renowned rocker Nick Cave, is a deceptively simple story with minimal plot turns and even more minimal locations. It is, however, full of rich characterizations and a strong sense of morale, as well as history. The use of Aborigines in the Australian military is unique and lends to the sense of “warts-and-all” truth that the film tries to push. John Hillcoat does a terrific job fattening the script with dreamy photographs of the desert landscape and some intense dramatic scenes where the actors get to shine. Though nearly devoid of action scenes, the film still provides some hair-raising sequences, courtesy of the flawless combination of offbeat visuals and Nick Cave’s progressive rock soundtrack that sounds unlike any other Western score.
Some of the shots in the film are images that will be burned into your memory for a long, long time. It’s gorgeous-looking to the point of being almost uncomfortably so, considering the heavy emphasis on brutality.
Usually when a bloody, grisly film claims to reject violence, it tends to be inevitably hypocritical. The Proposition is very bloody, and has its fair share of cringe-worthy scenes of cruelty, but that cringe is precisely the key. After the big gunfight that opens the film, which is unusually tense and scary rather than exciting, there’s not another shred of gratuitous violence. The first gory sight of the film is a clumsy guard accidentally shooting himself in the foot, the result of which is seen in blood-red details. It clues in the tone that we are expected to view the violence: ugly, painful, unexpected, and ultimately foolish. Rather than the result of a blaze of glory, the deaths in The Proposition are either shocking and sudden, or disturbingly drawn out.
The subject of civilization is a theme that’s prominently featured, materialized as multiple facets of the film: from the dog-eat-dog nature of the time period, to Charlie’s inner conflict in distancing himself from his savage brother, to the clash between Aborigines and white men, to John Hurt’s bounty hunter character musing on Darwin’s theory of evolution. What really separates man from animal?
Part of what makes it so compelling is the cast of characters that belong to two murky sides. We have of course the skirmish between the authorities and the ruthless criminals, yet the protagonist actually belongs to the band of rapists and killers. Captain Stanley traditionally functions as the villain, though he’s actually the only decent person in the whole movie. His intention is the noblest: he aims to tame the bandit-filled Australia, so that his frail wife Martha (Emily Watson) can feel at ease living in a place they were forced to move to. Still, each side has its own internal schisms, and there are two sides to every side.
The Proposition has more in common with poetry than, say, A Fistful of Dollars, but it’s by no means mellow. It’s a warped but elegantly evolved form of Western, one that deserves to be seen and appreciated.
"The Proposition" opens May 5, 2006 and is rated . . Written by Nick Cave.
