Movie Review: The Proposition

The Proposition

It was pure happenstance that I stumbled on some positive reviews for The Proposition. With a budget apparently sadly lacking in publicity funding, I might otherwise have ignored it entirely when it quietly showed up at a local movie venue. But bolstered by those few reviews, I determined not to let the opportunity pass me by.

The Proposition takes place in the Australian outback of the 19th century. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to our own "Old West" of that time. It's dirty, dry, and dusty, and it's a long way from the civilized world of larger cities or, better still, Europe. The territory — and thus the movie — is sparsely populated with ne'er do wells and outright villains as well as ruthless lawmen and prim and proper women.

Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) is one of the villains. Only recently splintered away from his older brother and the leader of the notorious Burns Gang, Charlie and his younger brother, Mikey (Richard Wilson) are on their own when they're captured by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), a military man charged with imposing the law on the unruly territory. Stanley is no idiot. He's well aware that the eldest Burns brother is the real leader of the gang. In the wake of a particularly vicious rape and murder, Stanley is willing to deal if he can get his hands on the man he really wants.

Stanley tells Charlie he has a proposition for him. He'll keep Mikey captive and hang him on Christmas Day, two weeks hence. Unless, that is, Charlie will agree to seek out his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston) and kill him. With little choice in the matter, Charlie accepts a horse, a gun, and the captain's proposition. Mikey, meanwhile, is wheeled away in a cage on wheels to await the fate his brother holds in his hands.

Captain Stanley's own small piece of civilization is waiting for him when he returns to his base: his wife, Martha (Emily Watson) has done her level best to make and keep a genteel home for her beleaguered husband. Local governor Eden Fletcher (David Wenham) sorely intrudes on Stanley's authority both at home and on the job, however, with his unceasing demands that the soldiers tame the territory, and that they do it now. While Mikey suffers in his cell and Charlie seeks his brother, all that Stanley can do is mark the days off on his calendar and try to counsel Fletcher to patience.

The Proposition involves a deceptively simple plot and a misleadingly low key beginning. Even in the midst of the gun battle during which Stanley captures the two youngest Burns brothers, there's somehow little suspense. But like I said, it's misleading. I spent the first 15 minutes or so of the movie convincing myself to stay by noting that, "Well, at least the cinematography is spectacular!" (It is.) But not long after that, I discovered I was thoroughly immersed in the tale being told.

Guy Pearce is very, very good, but he's helped more than a little by the incredible authenticity of the make-up (his teeth alone are enough to give you pause), the costumes (hand made by costumers for added realism), and the sets. Ray Winstone hits just the right note of a man possessed of conflicting hope, resignation, unbearable responsibility, and loss; Danny Burns is spectacular and truly terrifying as a loving brother who quite literally feels nothing for any outside his close family circle. And that I wanted to shoot David Wenham myself (despite the fact I adored him as the Lord of the Rings' Faramir) tells you what a terrific job he did as the smarmy Fletcher.

The direction is low key, just as is required to make some of the more shocking and violent scenes as shocking as they need to be for effect; the script might have been punched up a little, but likely suits the characters and the time best as is. I didn't really like the ending; I didn't really like most of the characters much, either. And yet I can't stop thinking about them or the way each was forced to live, either via circumstances or their own unheeding choices. The Proposition genuinely proves greater than the sum of its parts, even though a few of those parts are considerable in and of themselves.

I can't recommend The Proposition for all since it's unquestionably going to prove a bit of an acquired taste. But if you like westerns and don't mind graphic violence, or if you appreciate the hallmarks of very good movie-making (from costumes to cinematography, The Proposition is an example of very, very good indeed), you might find The Proposition one you won't regret having accepted for yourself.

POLITICAL NOTES: The overt lies and intentionally false promises made by government authorities in the film — all for the good of the decent citizens, of course — are awful enough within context. But when you consider how little some things have changed, well, the punishments endured by Mikey and the gloating pleasure taken in those punishments by Fletcher are even more abominable than they might otherwise be. Simply because we don't (mostly, anyway) engage in active torture any more doesn't make comparable officials any less the scum than Fletcher was.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: The Proposition is rated R for "strong grisly violence and for language." The violence is, indeed, grisly, and I can't recommend that anyone under about the age of 16 see the film as a result. In fact, those who don't have strong stomachs would also be well advised to stay away. But for the rest of you, well, like I said, The Proposition is an acquired taste. But as disturbing as I found much of the movie myself, I must say that I'm also glad to have acquired it for myself.