The Proposition: Not Your Daddy's Western

Why is it that a person's sense of right and wrong becomes blurred when it comes to family? It's a question that everybody has had to deal with at least one point in his or her life. If swearing is bad, and your father swears one day out of anger, does that make him a "bad" man? Perhaps swearing isn't really a good example.

Maybe murder and rape gets the argument across a little better. After all, there's not a sane person alive who condones those things. Everyone knows such atrocities are evil - but if your own brother commits such horrifying acts, could you force yourself to kill him in the name of justice? Or, to save another brother?

Don't be fooled by these "soap opera-like" qualities in the plot of "The Proposition." Yes, Guy Pearce's character Charlie Burns is forced to choose between two brothers, but John Hillcoat's direction of Nick Cave's script takes these archetypal story elements we've seen many times before, and transforms them into something new - something raw. There is no melodrama in this western. No white hat vs. black hat. Just men and women trying to survive the best they can in the remorseless outback of Australia.

As the film opens, it wastes no time. We meet Captain Stanley, brilliantly played by Ray Winstone, as he captures Charlie Burns, and his younger brother Mike. The two men are wanted for the brutal murder of the Hopkins family, as well as the rape of Mrs. Hopkins. These were not just any crimes, however. These were crimes without a purpose - murder and rape simply for the sake of pure amusement.

Captain Stanley knows that the capture of the two Burns brothers is a victory, however, he wants the eldest brother, Arthur Burns (Danny Huston). Arthur is the worst of the bunch - a downright psychopath. So, Captain Stanley decides to make Charlie Burns an offer - if he delivers his brother Arthur in nine days, he and his little brother Mike will be pardoned. If he fails, Mike will be hung.

Filled with beautiful photography of the Australian desert by cinematographer Benoît Delhomme, "The Proposition" is definitely a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. However, be warned - the film is quite violent. Unlike slasher film violence that gives us gore for the sake of gore, though, "The Proposition" shows us violence with a soul. The filmmakers here have done something I thought impossible - they've made violence poetic and beautiful, but still haunting. This is by far, one of the best films of the year.

Grade - A +

Directed by: John Hilcoat
Written by: Nick Cave