Week Of April 17, 2006 - List Week - Mon / Wed / Fri

April 21, 2006

The best movie that I've seen that's heading to theaters this year is The Proposition. Who'd a thunk it?

Picked up by First Look for direct-to-DVD release after a lack of excitement at Toronto last September, the third film from John Hillcoat, but the first to arrive in America, is an Outback Western that is about much more than the sum of its parts. It has elements of Unforgiven, but where Eastwood's film is precisely deconstructionist, this film doesn't offer a black & white anti-hero like the one Eastwood played at the center of David Webb People's story. It has elements of Leone, but the film is very much about chasing the idea of civilization, not reveling in the dehumanizing power of dust and greed. And it has elements of Munich, though the questions of right and wrong manage to be both more simplistic and more complex.

The Proposition is a tiny little story. So very simple in so many ways. But Hillcoat and writer Nick Cave, with the critical participation of Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, and Danny Huston, have brought an uncomfortable complexity to every scene.

The basic outline of the story is - AND THIS WOULD BE THE TIME TO SKIP THE REST OF THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY INFO ABOUT WHAT THE PROPOSITION IS… THOUGH THERE WON'T BE ANY MAJOR SPOILERS - that we meet Mike Burns and Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) in the middle of a shoot-in, which is to say, they are inside a metal supported shed and being shot at from the outside. Captured, we all meet Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), an English import to Australia who has been chasing the Burns gang, whose leader and most heinous abuser of life is Arthur Burns (Danny Huston). Charlie & Mike, who is emotionally infantile, have left their brother after a particularly ugly attack on a family, including a pregnant woman. But they are still guilty enough to hang. But that is where the proposition comes in. No one can get to Arthur… except perhaps his brother. If Charlie kills his brother, he and his "innocent" moron brother can go free.

It's both a classic feeling and quite unique idea for a western… in whatever country. It's a bit like cop movies or mafia films, where a "family" member is sent back into the fray in order to bring down a more corrupt member of the group.

But that basic story isn't enough for Mr. Cave and Mr. Hillcoat. Ray Winstone's Captain Stanley keep repeating his passion for bringing civilization to Australia. So we start with a sub-theme about whether the nation needs civilizing or whether the white against black racism against the Australian natives falsely created a "need." Stanley's wife, Martha (Emily Watson) is another link to civilization for the Captain. But that, too, is a double-edged sword. He is desperate to keep her innocent in a frontier territory. And even that is a mixed bag, since it is both a gift and a selfish desire, as her innocence soothes his emotional wounds when he comes home and washes off the dirt.

Meanwhile, Charlie Burns' return to his brother Arthur's lair is complicated for him. The film is not 100% clear, but it seems that he left Arthur in response to the same inhumanity that has caused Captain Stanley to send him on a mission of murder. He is, even though forced on one level, an ally of Stanley and the civilizers. But he is also a brother… and a man who values honor… and a man who values family.

It gets more complex still when we meet Arthur Burns and though we can see the crazy side, we also meet a man of poetry and deep thoughts and passions. He kills. He sometimes kills the wrong people. But his killing, we learn, has purpose. In this complexity, Danny Huston's eyes, which seem to go back for miles into the depths of his soul, create a believable character. He is the force of nature, much as Eastwood's character was in Unforgiven. But unlike Eastwood, he is still in the bloom of his rage. He has not, like the Eastwood character, gone off to have kids and a wife and the life of a farmer. But he is also smarter than that character, more like the murder/philosopher Mickey from Natural Born Killers.

Charlie doesn't even try to be Arthur's conscience. He's too busy struggling with his own.

Meanwhile, back in town, Captain Stanley is dealing with a town full of people who have their own idea of what bringing civilization to Australia means.

I don't want to get any farther into story. You should experience that for yourself. But the themes swirl through every scene of the film. What is "the right thing to do?" Who has the position from which they can claim to have the moral high ground? Why do we keep fighting our very natures and can we ever win?

It really is an emotional chamber piece, though many viewers and some critics are likely not to see past the violence, which is intense.

The visual aesthetic of the film is dirty and hot and full of flies. At times, cinematographer Benoit Delhomme's work here is very reminiscent of Christopher Doyle, rich in color and an elegant coarseness, especially inside the home of the Captain and his wife. But it is the expanses of the outback are beautiful, which are often for us but are even more often a perspective of the characters. Even though they are "white," the Burns brothers are very much of the Australian earth, at times almost a force of nature virtually called into action by the Aboriginal population that is being endlessly pushed aside.

Also important to the movie, and often reminding us that more is going on than just a period film, is the score by Warren Ellis. He is a compatriot of Nick Cave, playing for the last six years with Nick and the Bad Seeds, and his work is nothing short of spectacular here. I don't know whether it would be terribly interesting standing on its own. But this scores move with us and gently guides us when we need guidance.

But what I love most about this film is that layered into every moment, there is something more to think about. Construction, deconstruction and reconstruction can be found all over the place. And all in such a neat little package… because make no mistake, it is a small story. But it says oh so much.

This may be the best movie you see for a while… so when you have a chance to catch it, jump. And then, stay alert. Don't get distracted by the blood and guts. Look it in the eyes. And see what it says to you.

READER OF THE DAY: WALK DON'T RUN writes: "You can count me among the people who think you're a bit low on Da Vinci Code (with 40 million copies in print before it even went to paperback, it cannot be compared to the Firm or any other "hit" book, it's incomparable) - I'd be really surprised if it doesn't hit $200 million.........but the one flick I think you're understimating even more is A Scanner Darkly at $9M total gross.

I realize it's being released by Warner Independent, but with Linklater, Keanu, a cool trailer, neat-looking animation, and a mainstream story line (these Phillip K Dick sci-fi stories always sell), I'm thinking it comes in around $25M-$30M on the low side. What am I missing?"

E Me: What are you looking forward to in the summer of movies to come?.

Week Of April 17, 2006 - List Week - Mon / Wed / Fri