Critical Anaylsis of the Western The Proposition>

John Hillcoat's and Nick Cave's The Proposition serves as proof that international filmmakers have effectively and adequately adapted to the style constructed in American Westerns. Although during the 1800's Australia was not going through as radical a transformation and expansion as the United States, its setting in the barren, unexplored desert was strikingly similar to the American Western frontier. Dozens of similarities exist between these two points in history: countryside dominated by bleak wasteland only tamed by ruffians and gun-slinging outlaws, an enslaved and diminishing native people (Native Americans from the United States and Australia's Aborigines), and people who are simply trying to settle down and start a family. The Proposition takes elements from all of the Western films we have screened so far (be them thematic or story-driven), and even adds a few new ones to the mix, primarily the use of a family among the film's outlaws.

American Westerns largely feature cowboys and outlaws who only fight for themselves. They do not trust anyone, only follow by their own rules and do not seem to have a family or friends back home. The Proposition changes this formula by creating the Burns brothers gang, a band of outlaws prominently featuring Charlie, Arthur and Mikey Burns. While in other American Westerns we have seen the occasional friendship develop, here we have an outright family who have a history of acting together. The unity portrayed between the brothers (before Charlie and Mikey leave the gang), be it Charlie's and Arthur's mutual care for their mentally slow brother Mikey, or Charlie's quick recovery from a spear attack due to the gang's knowledge of medicine shows that the Australian western landscape is not as hopeless as the American. This sense of teamwork and togetherness is something rarely seen in American Westerns and something which can completely change a man's actions - outlaws potentially would not be as violent and ruthless as they are if they knew they had someone who cared about them somewhere. Instead, most lonely cowboys become desperate and resort to robbery, violence and severe alcoholism. Even those who have once had a family, such as William Munny in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, eventually go back to their old hazardous ways and continue down familiar paths of violence, violence which would have never occurred if his wife was still around.

Other than this newer theme, The Proposition features plenty of old staples of the Western Genre that we have seen in many other films. There is a strong theme of settling down and starting a family, coming from the view of Captain Stanley and his wife Martha. All Captain Stanley wanted to do throughout the entire film was settle down with his wife and live happily together, instead of having to engage in violent gunfights and track down the Burns gang. He desperately tried to shield his wife of the true nature of their town, saying many times "this land will be civilized," yet she still finds out and horror ensues, eventually resulting in both of them becoming extremely isolated and paranoid of the rest of the town. Their dream is comparable to the family featured in John Ford's The Searchers, simply raising a family in the middle of the new frontier. A few camera shots are comparable between the two, mostly between the grandiose opening shot of the frontier in The Searchers and the shot of the messenger from the police department running toward Stanley's house to describe a gunfight in The Proposition. Both shots show the open desert and plains, effectively telling the viewer how isolated and remotely located both houses are from society, the reason for that being that each family wanted to start over and live happily together (the process of starting over and renewal being another major theme in Westerns and the Western frontier). The idea of a family in the west having a home and settling down is also seen in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, through Gene Hackman's character Little Bill. His goal throughout the whole film, aside from keeping guns and violence outside of his town, is to build a house and live his life. Right before his death, he even says to Eastwood's character "But I was building a house!" signifying he was trying to escape the lifestyle which brought him to such a demise. The Proposition effectively utilized the Western theme of a cowboy wanting to settle down as much as these other films have.

Interestingly enough, it appears that it is impossible to have any accurate take on the Western without some form of abused race of people. American Westerns accurately portray history by telling the tale of the Native Americans being quietly pushed farther and farther west, weaving a story of not only cowboys but of a native people unfairly losing their land to foreign invaders. Sergio Leone took his focus away from the Native Americans in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and brought attention to the Mexicans who also were involved with western expansion, primarily in the south and around Texas. The Proposition also tells a tale of poorly treated indigenous people, the Aboriginals. Just like the Native Americans and the cowboys from American Westerns, there is an ongoing violent conflict between Australian settlers and the Aboriginals. Both are losing much of their rightfully-claimed land, are being wiped out in random battles and are trying to assimilate into a new culture (the idea of assimilation being seen through the character of Jacko, Captain Stanley's assistant and translator to the captured Aboriginals). Unwanted aggression and violence is directly seen when a group of six captured Aboriginals are being questioned by Stanley and Sergeant Lawrence. Lawrence is ready to rough up one of the Aboriginals who are refusing to give Arthur Burns' location, while thankfully the more reserved Captain Stanley instructs Lawrence to wait outside. Compare this scene to The Searchers, when Martin Pawley kicks his accidentally-new Native American wife to show his disdain toward their marriage. While this scene is suppose to be a sort of comic relief, it truly shows great violence against an innocent native, and it also speaks volumes about the time period and how desperate of a time it was for the Native Americans when an act like this is supposed to be considered comedy. Both races, the Aboriginals and the Native Americans, have been systematically abused by the people who are technically invading their land, another accurate portrayal and depiction of American Western films as seen in The Proposition.

International filmmakers have had great success in the past with tackling the American Western genre. Italian director Sergio Leone revolutionized the genre with his Man with No Name trilogy, fathering the sub-genre of "Spaghetti Westerns," an example of just one foreign director who has achieved much while working with the genre. John Hilcoat's and Nick Cave's The Proposition, by accurately comparing and portraying life in the west and classic themes within the genre is successful in being a Western film, warranting all of the critical praise it received. By comparing The United States' similar historical context with Australia's during the 1880's, the film was able to blend in with other Westerns by sharing themes with them, yet adding some new themes to the genre in the process. Due to this, Australian Westerns (if they have not already) can be considered a prominent and well-done addition to the field of international Westerns, potentially revolutionizing and reinventing the genre in originally sought to parallel.

Sources:

The Proposition. Dir. John Hillcoat. Per. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone. UK Film Council, 2005.

Unforgiven. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Per. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman. Malpaso Productions, 1992.