Eye Candy #466 - "The Proposition"

The Proposition: A bleak Australian western penned by Nick Cave, I heard about “The Proposition” months ago and its successful round of film festivals. It never got a large theatrical release and after watching the film, it’s perfectly clear why. You know you are in for a violent, violent film when there is a disclaimer about the treatment of aborigines in the film.  Mikey and Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) are two of a three-brother criminal family who are captured by Australian police in a tin shack whorehouse (into which the police put a lot of bullets). Charlie is given a deal by the police chief Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) to track down and kill his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston) to spare the life of his younger brother Mikey from the gallows. Seems that Arthur is the most unsavory of the three and is very much still at large and killing people.  But finding Arthur is not as easy as it sounds. He lives out where white men do not go, and where the native population of aborigines put big damn spears in trespassers (5-6 long and at least an inch or two around, make you look like a spiny blowfish you get 3 or 4 of them in you). While Charlie is off finding Arthur, Captain Stanley finds himself quickly losing control of the situation to a vigilante mob who want to dispense a little frontier justice to poor little Mikey who has been left behind (to the tune of 40 lashes) and don’t care for the deal extended to Charlie, who is a violent murderer in his own right.  Charlie eventually finds Arthur, but is wounded by aborigines in the process (and if you ever wanted to see an aborigine’s head explode due to a bullet, this is your picture), and that doesn’t bode well for Mikey, post-whipping. Nor does it bode well for Captain Stanley when Arthur Burns comes a-calling for his little brother. Because then all we’ve got left is revenge.   Some of the reviews I’ve read of the film compare it to an Australian answer to “Unforgiven”. In some ways I think they are right, but they are much more graphic here in their depiction of violence (if you aren’t getting your throat cut, you’re getting a bullet through your brainpan) The environment is so bleak and harsh, is it any wonder that that world bred violent criminals like the Burnses in the film, and Ned Kelly in real life? The reviews also stressed the themes of family, loyalty, brotherhood, and other such hogwash. This film is about revenge. Period.  The acting seems to be more in the speak-little-look-moodily-around vein. Pearce has maybe a half-dozen lines in the whole film. Huston seems to be trying to evoke his father John’s famous voice.  Winstone is given the most to do and he’s fairly solid. Supporting cast also has Emily Watson (who isn’t given much to do as Stanley’s wife) and David Wenham (who is apparently content to be a goofy character actor and NOT capitalize on any possible sex appeal as Faramir).  If you are looking for a warm, fuzzy, feel-good movie, this is NOT your picture. If you are looking for a solid western, it’s up your alley.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”