The Proposition part 6

Film: The Proposition
Directed by John Hillcoat
Australia (2006)
Revisionist Western/Psychological Drama
10 parts/110 minutes


(WARNING: Film contains adult language and scenes of graphic violence. Rated R by MPAA)

Synopsis:

An outlaw is goaded into taking on justice at its most brutal in this hard-edged Western set in rural Australia in the 1880s. Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) is a criminal living in the outback. He and his two brothers, Arthur (Danny Huston) and Mikey (Richard Wilson), are on the run from the law for rape and murder. Arthur is a violent and dangerous sociopath with a much longer rap sheet than his siblings and a reputation for hiding out in villages so lawless the police are afraid to visit them, while Mikey is much younger and more impressionable.

The authorities capture Charlie and Mikey after a bloody shootout, and the brothers are handed over to Capt. Stanley (Ray Winstone), a British lawman sent to Australia to help bring order to the colonies. Stanley proposes a deal to Charlie, explaining that it's Arthur he really wants, and that he's willing to spare the childlike and terrified Mikey if Charlie can find Arthur and murder him. Charlie, realizing that this is his only hope to save his younger brother, agrees and sets out to find and execute his other brother, who he believes has gone too far into the world of crime.

Review:

Director John Hillcoat and writer Nick Cave (of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds fame) deliver an Australian western without genre traditions in mind -- instead, their movie explores the complexities of moral relativity. Set in the harsh times before Australia was fully settled, the story features a fragile society barely clinging to civil order. It suggests that man is not so far away from beast, and what potentially sets him apart is his desire to lead a civilized life shaped by moral concerns.

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold. The Proposition illustrates that, extending the metaphor, revenge is more often bitter than sweet. Gritty to the point of being disturbing, The Proposition examines the revenge thriller not as the culmination of righteous indignation, but as a pyrrhic victory devoid of catharsis. On the surface, The Proposition may echo Hollywood's storied Westerns, but the look and the feel of the film are more disquieting than anything that John Ford or Sergio Leone ever brought to the screen.

The film is awash in dirt. There's not a lot of spare water in this territory and it shows. Everyone is dirty. When men gather in the street to watch a flogging, we see hundreds of flies crawling all over their clothing. The flogging is the most brutal of its kind this side of The Passion of the Christ, with the telling moment coming when the flogger wrings the blood from his instrument. It's one of those images that will have even hardened gore-lovers flinching. There's nothing pretty about the look of The Proposition, and its visual griminess reflects the souls of its characters.

The strength of The Proposition is its relentless moral ambiguity. Characters that would be heroic in more conventional movies show their darker sides, and the blackguards are given lighter, less ominous shades. It comes down to survival and justice. In a harsh land where so many are fighting to attain the former, is the latter an unreachable dream? And when does revenge as a means of justice cross over to become revenge as a means of survival? The Proposition may not answer these questions, but it addresses them and leaves it to the viewer to draw the conclusions. The result is as unsettling as it is compelling.

Category:

Film & Animation

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[loverslovinglie12]

how did i go from watching funny people falling down to this ?

[hero28]

i was watching SKYRIM trailer.... 4 clicks later i got here o.O

[LlamaAirline]

can a wip do that much damage

[lea2hot]

im so confused how in the world did i go from black butler to here?!?!!?!??!?!?!?! and how how anyone could stand that boys screams is beyound me....

[realguitarshredder]

how did i get here

[mcphilliswitz09]

Well at least it's white people whipping other White people. Oh what the fuck is related video I started off at family guy clips related videos took me to underage girls getting pimped out by asains, then sex trafficking,now a guy getting whipped and I don't why he's being whipped. What the fuck YouTube ?

[tristansliebestod]

i was watchin death wish part 9, well not so far.

[ThumperMiggles]

It has more views than all the other parts because it has the word "rape".

[bub2u3]

i whent from watching drunk people throw up to this O_O

[blazeaway69]

that was odd

i didnt understand it at all

[xoxoxRSxoxox]

why was the boy being whipped?