THE PROPOSITION

Director: John Hillcoat (Handful of lesser known Australian productions)
Starring: Guy Pierce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Emily Watson, John Hurt

The Proposition is barbaric, violent and gritty. It's also operatic, poetic and coldly beatiful. It's an excellent work of minimalism, finding beauty in conflict, and in both barren souls and barren landscapes. This film, set during the colonization of the Australian outback, shows the clash of two antithetical figures, one the captain of the military police struggling to civilize the untamed wilderness, the other a cruel criminal wanted for rape and murder. Caught between these men, struggling with the moral conflict between loyalty to his brother or to society, is a fierce, grim Guy Pierce. Westerns lend themselves to these sorts of themes, but this one delivers the goods. This is the best western in quite some time.

The story has only a few main scenes, and often pauses to look at the blank expanse of the endless wilderness that is the Australian outback, but it also is punctuated by brief episodes of terrible violence. It is one of the better summations of the human conflict between animal barbarity and altruistic civilization. Yes, I'll repeat that statement because there are a *lot* of movies about that subject in one way or another. This is one of the more pointed, sharp, and beautiful films about humanity's violent nature.

The plot starts in a shootout, with the capture of Pierce and his younger (and weaker) brother by Ray Winstone's police captain. The captain gives Pierce's character a proposition: Kill your older more terrible brother, wanted for rape and murder, or your younger brother will hang on Christmas day. There is the proposition. The real proposition for Pierce is to what he owes his allegiance - to his family and himself, or to society. I'll bet if asked directly, most people will claim the answer is obvious, that we must obey the rules of society, that altruism and empathy should be our true goals. No one, and I mean no one, actually manages that, however. Actions speak louder than words, and like the booming voice of god our actions cry out that we are selfish.

The film has an excellent sense of itself across the board, and it succeeds in virtually every aspect of cinema. The visuals are stunning, with lonely skyscapes melting into never-ending plains. The dialogue is nearly operatic, with John Hurt's drunken bounty hunter a particular highpoint. The acting is intense, the plot both smart and gripping. This was a wonderful film. As a note the violence is truly terrible. There's nothing in this film that isn't in an R-rated scholck horror film, but here it's meaningful violence. These seem like real people rather than the cartoon bloodbaths in horror movies. Nonetheless, if violence is a concern, this film has quite a bit of it. Actually, the movie doesn't just have violence, it is precisely about violence.

Standouts: Visuals, story, tone, acting. A wonderful film.
Blowouts: Nothing comes to mind.

Grade: A