"The Proposition" is a grim, atmospheric western set not on the American frontier but rather in the Australian outback of the 1880's.
Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) is a police officer sent from England to impose law and order on the largely uncivilized populace inhabiting that newly settled region of the world (his jurisdiction includes aborigine natives as well as the recently arrived whites). Those orders set Stanley in direct opposition to the Burns Gang, a notorious band of thieves and cutthroats comprised of three Irish brothers who are suspected in the rape and murder of one of the most prominent and influential families in the territory. After Stanley captures two of the men, he imprisons one - the weak, sniveling Mikey - and frees the other, Charlie (Guy Pearce), threatening to hang Mikey if Charlie fails to hunt down and kill the third brother, Arthur, purported to be the vile ringleader of the group. Thus is sent into motion a brutal, violent tale of revenge and justice that soaks the exquisite Australian landscape in generous helpings of blood and gore.
"The Proposition" is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, as it literally rubs our noses in the violence it is portraying. In vivid, unflinching detail, the movie captures the inhumanity and bloodshed perpetrated by the characters on one another throughout the course of the story. Stanley is an unlikely central figure for the tale, since even though he begins as a hardnosed, unyielding stickler for law and order, he turns out, in the long run, to be one of the most reasoned and restrained players in the drama. In fact, he faces intense opposition from the townsfolk for being too lenient with his prisoners and too slow in exacting justice for the horrible crimes committed. Stanley, who is also deeply devoted to his loving wife, stands as a kind of transitional figure linking the barbarous past with the hopefully more "civilized" future of this continent uniquely tucked away in its own little corner of the world.
The second major character is Charlie, who has to decide between betraying his older brother by killing him in cold blood or letting his younger brother swing at the end of a rope if he doesn't. Unfortunately, Charlie is not nearly as fully developed a character as Stanley is, nor is his moral dilemma as clearly developed or dramatized either. We don't get the sense that we know much about Charlie even after we have spent quite a bit of time with him which is a shame since his thought processes and actions are pivotal to understanding the outcome of the story. Perhaps more successful is the portrayal of Stanley's wife, Martha (Emily Watson), who is torn between her innate compassion for humanity and her desire to have her dear friend's death avenged by the public execution of the men responsible for the heinous crime.
What distinguishes "The Proposition" from so many other westerns is its deliberate moral ambiguity, its recognition that people don't always fit into nicely wrapped packages of good and evil, and that fairness and justice are not always the clear-cut commodities we've been taught to believe they are from literature and movies. And all this is done against a stark natural landscape that stands as a mute, indifferent witness to the insanity of the humans' actions.
Pearce, Watson and, especially, Winstone deliver remarkably restrained, understated performances as the three main characters caught up in the drama. After all, with all the blood and carnage up there on the screen, the last thing the film needs is a bunch of over-emoting actors adding to the excess of it all.
"The Proposition" is clearly not for everyone, but die-hard Western aficionados would be remiss in not seeing it.
Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) is a police officer sent from England to impose law and order on the largely uncivilized populace inhabiting that newly settled region of the world (his jurisdiction includes aborigine natives as well as the recently arrived whites). Those orders set Stanley in direct opposition to the Burns Gang, a notorious band of thieves and cutthroats comprised of three Irish brothers who are suspected in the rape and murder of one of the most prominent and influential families in the territory. After Stanley captures two of the men, he imprisons one - the weak, sniveling Mikey - and frees the other, Charlie (Guy Pearce), threatening to hang Mikey if Charlie fails to hunt down and kill the third brother, Arthur, purported to be the vile ringleader of the group. Thus is sent into motion a brutal, violent tale of revenge and justice that soaks the exquisite Australian landscape in generous helpings of blood and gore.
"The Proposition" is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, as it literally rubs our noses in the violence it is portraying. In vivid, unflinching detail, the movie captures the inhumanity and bloodshed perpetrated by the characters on one another throughout the course of the story. Stanley is an unlikely central figure for the tale, since even though he begins as a hardnosed, unyielding stickler for law and order, he turns out, in the long run, to be one of the most reasoned and restrained players in the drama. In fact, he faces intense opposition from the townsfolk for being too lenient with his prisoners and too slow in exacting justice for the horrible crimes committed. Stanley, who is also deeply devoted to his loving wife, stands as a kind of transitional figure linking the barbarous past with the hopefully more "civilized" future of this continent uniquely tucked away in its own little corner of the world.
The second major character is Charlie, who has to decide between betraying his older brother by killing him in cold blood or letting his younger brother swing at the end of a rope if he doesn't. Unfortunately, Charlie is not nearly as fully developed a character as Stanley is, nor is his moral dilemma as clearly developed or dramatized either. We don't get the sense that we know much about Charlie even after we have spent quite a bit of time with him which is a shame since his thought processes and actions are pivotal to understanding the outcome of the story. Perhaps more successful is the portrayal of Stanley's wife, Martha (Emily Watson), who is torn between her innate compassion for humanity and her desire to have her dear friend's death avenged by the public execution of the men responsible for the heinous crime.
What distinguishes "The Proposition" from so many other westerns is its deliberate moral ambiguity, its recognition that people don't always fit into nicely wrapped packages of good and evil, and that fairness and justice are not always the clear-cut commodities we've been taught to believe they are from literature and movies. And all this is done against a stark natural landscape that stands as a mute, indifferent witness to the insanity of the humans' actions.
Pearce, Watson and, especially, Winstone deliver remarkably restrained, understated performances as the three main characters caught up in the drama. After all, with all the blood and carnage up there on the screen, the last thing the film needs is a bunch of over-emoting actors adding to the excess of it all.
"The Proposition" is clearly not for everyone, but die-hard Western aficionados would be remiss in not seeing it.