The Proposition (2005)

Director: John Hillcoat

 When we think of a western, we usually think of the old American west, but this great western is set in the barren lands of old Australia. The landscape is similar to the landscape of American westerns, but instead of Native Americans roaming around, you have Australian aboriginals. The best westerns are always the ones that manage to capture the desolate landscape and the effect the never-ending land and its savagery can have on people (last years Meek's Cutoff is the most recent film to capture this successfully). John Hillcoat directs this film paying close attention to larger thematics and dilemmas instead of focusing primarily on screenplay, which could have easily been made into a by-the-numbers action-western by another director.

Guy Pearce's character has a moral dilemma, and that is whether or not he will kill his wanted older brother for the sheriff in order to save his wanted younger brother who has been captured by the police from death. The film never takes a side morally. Even though Pearce's character and his brothers were involved in a horrible massacre of an innocent family, it's not easy to root against them because we see that the colonial police can be just as brutal. Flies, the insect, fly all over the place when we see the police, perhaps to symbolize that the "good guys" are just as "dirty" as the criminals. On top of all that, Nick Cave's music (he is also the screenwriter) makes the movie meditative when it needs to be and extremely exciting it when it needs to be as well. The music combined with the brilliant cinematography and Guy Pearce's great performance makes for a movie that's more of an experience than anything e lse. The screenplay is good, but it's simple. Hillcoat then takes the simple story and creates an emotional and even exciting film.

Grade: A-