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The proposition - Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, David Wenham, David Gulpilil, John Hillcoat

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

A powerfully gripping story that tells of two brothers in conflict, the film has a truly epic sweep. Set in the 1880s, The proposition opens in the middle of a frenzied gunfight between the police and a gang of outlaws. Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his brother Mikey (Richard Wilson) are captured by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). Together with their psychopathic brother Arthur, they are wanted for a brutal crime. Stanley makes Charlie a seemingly impossible proposition in an attempt to bring an end to the cycle of bloody violence.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Australia western cowboy crime gang colony British murder aborigine revenge

Persons of interest

Tom Budge .... Samuel Stote
Guy Pearce .... Charlie Burns
Emily Watson .... Martha Stanley
Ray Winstone .... Captain Stanley
David Wenham .... Eden Fletcher
John Hurt .... Jellon Lamb
David Gulpilil
Leah Purcell
Richard Wilson .... Mike Burns
Tommy Lewis
Robert Morgan .... Sergeant Lewis
Boris Brkic .... Officer Holloway
Iain Gardiner .... Officer Matthews
Danny Huston .... Arthur Burns
Garry Waddell .... Officer Davenport
Noah Taylor .... Brian O'Leary
Nick Cave .... Screenwriter, Composer
John Hillcoat .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

The proposition official movie site
The proposition production notes
The proposition QuickTime movie trailers

Awards and film festivals:

Australian Film Institute (AFI) 2005: Won: Best original music score (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis), Best production design (Chris Kennedy), Best costume design (Margot Wilson), Best cinematography (Benoît Delhomme); Nominated: Best film (Chris Brown, Jackie O'Sullivan, Chiara Menage, Cat Villiers), Best direction (John Hillcoat), Best lead actor (Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone)
Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) Screen Music Awards 2006: Nominated: Feature Film Score of the Year (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis)
Berlin International Film Festival 2005: Panorama
Cinematic Intelligence Agency Trenchcoat Awards 2005: Won: Best cinematographer (Benoît Delhomme), Best film (English language), Best Australian film; Nominated: Nominated: Best script (Nick Cave), Best actor - Male (Danny Huston, Guy Pearce and Richard Wilson as the Burns brothers), Best criminal (Arthur Burns - Danny Huston, Charlie Burns - Guy Pearce, Mike Burns - Richard Wilson), Best director (John Hillcoat)
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards 2005: Won: Best Cinematography (Benoit Delhomme), Best Composer (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis); Nominated: Best Film (Chiara Menage, Cat Villiers), Best Director (John Hillcoat), Best Actor In A Lead Role (Guy Pearce), Best Original Screenplay (Nick Cave)
if Awards 2005: Won: Best Feature Film (John Hillcoat), Best Cinematography (Benoit Delhomme), Best Music (Warren Ellis, Nick Cave), Best Production Design (Chris Kennedy); Nominated: Best Actress (Emily Watson), Best Actor (Guy Pearce), Best Direction (John Hillcoat), Best Script (Nick Cave), Best Editing (Jon Gregory)
London Film Festival 2005: Screening
Sundance Film Festival 2006: Screening

Studios and distributors:

Sony Pictures Releasing

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

The proposition is what is best described as a lyrical Australian western. I'd always been a bit dodgy when it comes to the meaning of the word lyrical but The proposition is definitely what lyrical is supposed to mean. Melodic. Flowing. Sensual. Heightened. Deepened. Enhanced. There is more that meets the eye than any Hollywood western. Sure, there are empty open spaces, "cowboys", frontier towns, a "sheriff", "Indians", horses, ranchers, shoot-outs, whores, blacksmiths, native trackers, dandies and the like, yet with all that, this film owes more to Moulin Rouge than The outlaw Josey Wales.

Much like One night the moon in style, The proposition is a film that could only be made in (and about) Australia. The landscape shapes the people who live here more than they can ever affect it: this is reflected in the story. A bunch of dodgy Empire British struggling to survive despite the heat, dust and flies, sweating in their tweed jackets and busselled dresses, slurping down their cups of tea, roasting up a freshly-slaughtered turkey, plopped down in the middle of nowhere, far beyond the black stump, lost in an alcoholic haze, drunken lechery the only way to escape their mortification. [I don't know where that sentence was supposed to go but it sure has a lot of commas. - Director of Intelligence.]

One aspect of this cracker little film that impressed me is the dirt. Most period dramas set in this era have actors who could be sitting on a sound stage in a studio somewhere south of Sydney. Not here. Dirt, sweat, dust, mud, blood and flies are the only constant in their lives. The one person who maintains physically cleanliness throughout the film is Martha Stanley (wife of the Pilatean Captain Stanley), marooned on their dessicated station, and she ends up dirtier than all the rest put together.

Trust me, there are no happy endings.

The proposition is the kind of film which I have no hesitation in recommending as a historical textbook for Australian children, both for its verisimilitude and for its black drama. If you've never been a fan of westerns, this one might just change your mind.