The Proposition
2005
Director
John Hillcoat
Writer
Nick Cave
Production Companies
Autonomous
Jackie O Productions
Pictures in Paradise Pty. Ltd.
Surefire Film Productions LLP
Distribution
A-Film Distribution (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
Califsrnia Home Vmdeo (2006) (Brazil) (VHS) (DVD)
Columbia TriStar (2005) (Australia) (theatrical)
First Look Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
First Look Pictures Releasing (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
Russian Report (2006) (Russia) (all media)
Technical Specifications
Format: 35 mm
Cinematographic process: Super 35
Printed Film Format: 35 mm anamorphic
Aspect ratio: 2.35 : 1
Cast
Boris Brkic
Bryan Probets
Danny Huston
David Gulpilil
David Wenham
Emily Watson
Garry Waddell
Guy Pearce
Iain Gardiner
John Hurt
Leah Purcell
Noah Taylor
Ray Winstone
Richard Wilson
Robert Morgan
Tom Budge
Tommy Lewis
Officer Holloway
Officer Dunn
Aurther Burns
Eden Fletcher
Martha Stanley
Officer Davenport
Charlie Burns
Officer Matthews
Jellon Lamb
Brian O'Leary
Captain Stanley
Mike Burns
Sgt Lawrence
Samuel Stote
Crew
Anthony Faust
Ted Swanscott
Nick Foley
Chris Goodes
Andrew Neil
Brendan Donnison
Kim Prentice
Bill Booth
Marita Mussett
Nicki Ellis
Andrew Hardwick
Anna Bertmark
adr mixer
adr mixer
adr recordist
adr recordist
adr recordist
adr voice casting
art department assistant
art direction
art direction
assistant production
coordinator
assistant production
coordinator
assistant sound editor
Mark Appleby
Jessie Taylor
Nathalia Rayfield
Pam Collis
Christopher Simon
Nikki Barrett
Gary Davy
Benont Delhomme
Lee Mariano
Margot Wilson
Alison Bown
Simon Finney
Jon Gregory
Ian Seymour
James Atherton
Chris Auty
Sara Giles
Michael Hamlyn
Michael Henry
Norman Humphrey
Robert Jones
Sophie Siomos
Darren Mallett
James Hamilton
Zeljka Stanin
Neil Peplow
Ric Anderson
Anita Lowe
Sally Gordon
Tony Clarke
Lea Dixon
Bronwyn Fitzgerald
Zeljka Stanin
Sally Gordon
Gerard McCann
assistant sound rerecording mixer
assistant sound rerecording mixer
assistant to producer
associate producer
associate producer
casting
casting
cinematographer
clapper loader
costume design
dialogue editor
director of photography:
second unit
editor
editor
executive producer
executive producer
executive producer
executive producer
executive producer
executive producer
executive producer
financial controller
first assistant director
foley editor
hair stylist: Guy Pearce
head of production
horsemaster
key hair stylist
key makeup artist
location manager
makeup artist
makeup artist
makeup artist: Guy
Pearce
makeup designer
music editor
Jake Jackson
Gerard McCann
Rachel James
Chris Brown
Chiara Menage
Jackie O'Sullivan
Cat Villiers
Jennifer Des Champs
Chris Kennedy
Steve Taylor
Annalise Davis
Lucy Whitton
Michael Larcombe
Geoffrey Cox
Jill Eden
Marko Anttonen
Martha Murphy Badger
Nick Cave
Jack Gillies
Richard Davey
Kerry Brown
Ric Anderson
Angela Moore
Ian Morgan
Paul Davies
music scoring mixer
music supervisor
post-production
accountant
producer
producer
producer
producer
production coordinator
production design
property master
research assistant
researcher
scorpio technician
script editor
set decoration
set designer
singer
singer
sound effects editor
sound re-recording
mixer
still photographer
stunt coordinator
stunt double
supervising dialogue &
adr editor
supervising sound editor
Ratings
MPAA – R for strong grisly violence and language
Australia - MA
Finland – K-15
Ireland – 16
New Zealand – R16
Norway – 15
Sweden – 15
UK – 18
Awards
Year
Result
Won
2005
Nominated
Year
2005
Australian Film Institute
Award
Category/Recipient(s)
Best Cinematography
Benont Delhomme
Best Costume Design
Margot Wilson
AFI Award
Best Original Music Score
Nick Cave
Warren Ellis
Best Production Design
Chris Kennedy
Best Direction
John Hillcoat
Best Editing
Jon Gregory
Best Film
Chris Brown
Jackie O'Sullivan
Chiara Menage
Cat Villiers
Best Lead Actor
Guy Pearce
AFI Award
Best Lead Actor
Ray Winstone
Best Screenplay, Original
Nick Cave
Best Sound
Craig Walmsley
Paul Davies
Richard Davey
Ian Morgan
Best Supporting Actor
John Hurt
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards
Result
Award
Category/Recipient(s)
Best Cinematography
Benont Delhomme
Won
FCCA Award
Best Musical Score
Nick Cave
Warren Ellis
IF Awards
Year
Result
Award
Category/Recipient(s)
Best Cinematography
Benont Delhomme
Best Feature Film
John Hillcoat (director)
Chris Brown (producer)
Jackie O'Sullivan (producer)
Chiara Menage (producer)
Won
IF Award
Cat Villiers (producer)
Best Music
Nick Cave
Warren Ellis
Best Production Design
2005
Chris Kennedy
Best Actor
Guy Pearce
Best Actress
Emily Watson
Best Direction
Nominated
IF Award
John Hillcoat
Best Editing
Jon Gregory
Best Script
Nick Cave
Table taken from the Internet Film Database
Promotional Trailers
film.virgin.net
www.movie-list.com
www.moviecentre.net
www.trailerdownload.net
www.ultimatedvd.org
Reviews
www.hollywoodreporter.com[Kirk Honeycutt]
Variety.com [Richard Kuipers]
Guardian/Observer
BBCi - Films
eye WEEKLY [Jason Anderson]
Reel.com [Pam Grady]
Tiscali UK
Urban Cinefile (Australia)
In Film Australia
Bina007 Movie Reviews
Darkmatters [Matt Adcock]
eFilmCritic Reviews
The London Times [James Christopher]
Film Freak Central Review [Alex Jackson]
hoopla.nu
Qwipster's Movie Reviews [Vince Leo]
Nerve [Adam Ford]
Cinema Blend [Edward Darell]
Philadelphia City Paper [Sam Adams]
eFilmCritic [Scott Weinberg]
Eric D. Snider
FilmExposed Magazine
Film Freak Central Review [Alex Jackson]
FilmJudge.co.uk
Floatation Suite [Sheila Seacroft]
Future Movies [Paul Gallagher]
Jigsaw Lounge [Neil Young]
The Lumihre Reader
Movie Vault [Avril Carruthers]
moviereview [Colin Fraser]
musicOMH.com
Real Political Face Talk
Reel Film Reviews [David Nusair]
Slant Magazine [Nick Schager]
The Blurb Magazine [David Edwards]
The Cinematheque [Kevyn Knox]
The Red Right Hand [Matt Stogdon]
Total Film
Twitch
UKscreen [Jason Korsner]
Interviews and The Proposition Online
Interview w/ Nick Cave and John Hillcoat
http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/filmmaking.asp?ID=159
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=10949&s=Interviews
Interview w/ Guy Pearce
http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/filmmaking.asp?ID=160
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=10946&s=Interviews
Links:
Joblo.com
Hollywood Stock Exchange
Monsters and Critics
Cinematic Intelligence Agency
AceShowbiz.com
Box Office Mojo
Boxofficeprophets
Comingsoon.net
DVDwolf
Future Movies - Nick Cave and John Hillcoat Interview
ioncinema.com Preview
Laqat.com - News
MovieboX.se (swedish)
RopeofSilicon
Up4U
Urban Cinefile (Australia) - Guy Pearce interview [Andrew L. Urban]
Urban Cinefile (Australia) - Hillcoat & Cave interview [Andrew L. Urban]
Urban Cinefile (Australia) - Visualising an Australian Western [John Hillcoat]
Zelluloid.de (German)
UK Box Office Figures
Opening Weekend
Weekend
Gross
Gross
Date
12 March 2006
19 March 2006
12 March 2006
19 March 2006
#
205,594
104,892
205,594
446,092
Screens
118
115
Release Dates
Country
Date
Market
France
11 May 2005 Cannes Film Market
Canada 12 September 2005 Toronto Film Festival
Australia 24 September 2005 Winton (premiere)
Australia
6 October 2005
Germany 13 February 2006 Berlin International Film Festival
USA
15 February 2006 Portland International Film Festival
Sweden
24 February 2006
UK
10 March 2006
Finland
31 March 2006
Russia
20 April 2006 limited
USA
22 April 2006 Newport Beach International Film Festival
USA
5 May 2006 New York City, New York
Critical Analysis
The Proposition is an Australian western that explores the bleakness of a
situation and presents a moral choice that seemingly destroys the notions of
morality. The film is beautiful while at the same time gruesome and as
unrelenting as the landscape in which it is home.
The opening credits give way at once to a brutal gunfight, more like a
chicken shoot. From there the titular proposition is laid out, the protagonist must
sacrifice one brother for the life of another. It is the story of Charlie Burns, the
middle brother in the Burns gang, a violent trio of Irish brothers that have ravaged
the frontier of 19th century Australia. In the midst of his moral dilemma, the
frontier town works to carve their way into the inhospitable landscape.
At its roots, The Proposition is a bushranger story. The plot is Charlie
Burns riding his horse through the bush to save his little brother. However using
this vehicle, the film tackles the deeper issues of the white settlement of
Australia. The complex characters of Captain and Mrs. Stanley contrast with
those of the aboriginal characters. The characters themselves contrast with the
traditional depictions of their stereotypes. This is the director’s attempt to show
the “true” settlement, the real relationship between the settlers and the settled.
Mrs. Stanley is not the typical western woman, the stalwart symbol of morality
and nonviolence. She instead encourages the lashing of Mike Burns, she even
watches it. Granted she faints and reassumes the role of the fragile woman but
she has lost her high position on moral grounds. It is also significant that unlike
many the John Wayne style western, Captain Stanley is not the redeeming
character, the hero is not the good guy in this case. Although he fights against
the wealthy tyrant he fails to secure the safety of the town, to showdown the
outlaw at high noon per say. It is Charlie Burns, the outlaw, who ends the
violence and who protects Mrs. Stanley, even if it is not his specific aim.
Charlie’s character displays the generic traits of the western character.
He is a man of the land, he rides into the desert on his horse with nothing behind
him and only peril in front of him. He is in the impossible situation of having to
choose between the lives of his older brother of that of his younger brother. His
proposition demonstrates the harshness of life in on the frontier; that morality
does not quite fit in the gorges and cliffs of the outback as neatly as it does the
painted boxes of the cities. One notable scene is that of the night before he is
speared by the aboriginals. In the sequence of night shots Charlie is brazen with
the symbol of the western, the gun. He waves the gun around, his silhouette
melding as if the gun was an extension of his hand. This generic theme is then
continued with the dialogue between Charlie and Brian and the ensuing punches
over the gun.
Much as in the contemporary Australian western, Ned Kelly, “the gun” in
The Proposition is taken up by Charlie as a necessity. Unlike the law officers
who drunkenly handle and go over the gun, Charlie is painted to want peace both for himself and Mike.) Where the officers seemingly shoot wontedly and
use the gun as symbol as status, Charlie only shoots in self-protection at the
beginning and at the close of the film to end the violence. His brandishing of his
gun is at odds with his seeming desire for a peaceful life. In these visuals, the
director seems to emphasis the perversion of life necessary to survive in the
outback, a perversion that eventually leads to murdering your own brother.
Another perversion with which the film deals is that of the aboriginal
population. As common in the Australian western, an aboriginal sidekick must
help the out of place white man. Played by David Gulpilil, this character is not
the prisoner helping the white man cross the desert, he helps him rid the desert
of the aboriginals. He has turned from an aboriginal to a settler, clearly evident in
the scene in which the other black companion tells him he has his life back, as he
is seen dead.
In another departure, the film shows the aboriginals as not tolerant or
acquiescent to the settlers. Although they are still depicted as being dominated,
they fight back; they have a say. They spear the white man who intrudes into
their land; they take a life for a life. This depiction has much to do with the
location of filming, Queensland. With Australian law seeking to protect the
aboriginal culture and the reality of the treatment of aboriginals a historical issue
it is logical that a western would address these issues. The changing policy
towards aboriginals and the attempt to reconcile with the past would seem to
have much influence on the depiction of the clash of cultures in the film.
The filming took place in remote Queensland in the height of summer.
The harshness of the locations comes across in the film, most notably in the
presence of a myriad of flies. The cruelness of the location adds to the reality of
struggle while still providing the beautiful epic landscapes of Australia. The
cinematography is vastly affected by the use of an outside to the Australian
landscape. Not being familiar with the outback, the shots are much like those of
an awed viewer, one captivated by the vast desert. This lends depth to the
awkwardness of the Stanley’s entrance into the outback.
This was Hillcoat’s third feature film, his other work being in music videos.
Although his pervious two films are not westerns, they are violent and focus on
men who are struggling. In Ghosts… of the Civil Dead, it is a struggle of prison
gangs and in To Have and to Hold, it is of a man tormented by the loss of his
wife. Hillcoat not only directed Ghost… of the Civil Dead but is credited for the
screenplay as well. It was written in collaboration with the writer of The
Proposition, Nick Cave. Cave, a talented composer as well, wrote the
screenplay for Hillcoat as their third collaboration. Cave also composed the
soundtrack for The Proposition. Cave’s musical background is noticeable in the
montages of violence that are tied together through song. Hillcoat’s background
in music videos also lends to making The Proposition seems slightly like an epic
music video. Not a musical in any sense, the score drives the emotion in the
film, and enhances the dramatic cinematography.
The music and cinematography earned the film critical acclaim in
Australia. Critics also praised the performances of the key actors, notably Guy
Pierce. His performance as well as those of the other actors is what makes the
film a success. As the western has been done before, and often in a more
concise and entertaining manner, it is the acting, cinematography, and
soundtrack, which sets this film apart. It could be that Australia is proud of its
musical talent, Nick Cave. In any case, a well-written and shot film while violent
is entertaining. It will be interesting to follow the US release as the western’s
home is typically in the United States.
The Proposition is an ambitious film. It attempts to tackle morality,
settlement, and justice. It is a western with no clear good guys or bad guys. It is
an Australian film that is reminiscent of old American cowboy flicks. For an
Australian film, it is not unusual that The Proposition has such acute themes as
its center. It is a large film, epic in it setting, detailed in its costuming but with a
fairly untested director. Although the film was successful in Australia, apparent in
its awards, it may not have the success of a blockbuster in the United States
where it is soon to be released. However, the quality of the filming and the
familiar generic qualities of the western may give the film the audience base it
needs to make an impact. If this happens, it will be a nod toward Australian
cinema and will work to further the career of Guy Pierce undoubtedly. With
overseas success, The Proposition could make it easier for imposing dramas to
come out of Australia. The Proposition, Nick Cave, and Guy Pierce are definitely
bits of Australian cinema worth following, and bits that will have a further impact
on cinema globally.