This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
RyanOgan’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
The Proposition: Painting a Western Hellscape
Set in the Australian outback, The Propositions use of the harsh western scenery not only catches the audience’s eye but also sets the entire movies brutal tone. As Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) embarks on his journey to track down his brother Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), who is wanted for rape and murder and is hiding among the mountainous eruptions of the seemingly never-ending dust fields, The Proposition cuts to humbling silhouettes that truly show the vast nothingness behind the character on horseback. As Charlie continues his daunting task, he passes through dilapidated and seemingly abandoned areas. The uncanny resemblance of the towns and bars in The Proposition to the ones I am used to seeing in American Western movies really intrigued me. The parallels between the Australian outback and the American “wild west” are shown most to me in scenes like the jailhouse and the one-Road Town that the policemen parade their prisoners down. It reminded me of the more modern American Western movie Django Unchained, by Quinten Tarantino, where the entire town comes out to see pretty much any activity coming through their run-down western town.
The Proposition does an amazing job at putting the audience in the uncomfortable setting as the movie progresses through harsh caves, sharp mountains and more nothingness. From sleeping on rocks to gazing over vast ridgelines, I really felt a sense of what the characters' lives in this place are like. Every background seems to either look like a tornado had just come through or an unsettling emptiness. No wonder the people in these types of places are so rugged and unwelcoming. Although we don’t see much of the Aboriginal characters homes, which I think the movie purposely does to portray them as elusive & nomadic, it made me think of the parallels between their lives and those of the Native Americans that conquered similar harsh environments for thousands of years. The Aboriginal tribesmen look even more rugged than the townsfolk and even the outlaws, continuing to prove that this land and Western setting is truly a wild and hellacious place.
A true western masterpiece of the 21st century, The Proposition showed me a new type of setting that had the familiar grit of classic American wild west films. The scenery gives way to the entire basis of the characters and their contrasting lives and sets the stage for a brutal western adventure.