Sleeper Cell: The Proposition (2006)

Apr 302010

A Quick Intro:
The Proposition is a perfect movie.

There is a museum in Gaithersburg, Maryland that houses the basis for the scientific System Internationale: The NIST Museum. It holds the universal meter (decided upon in 1875) molded in an x-shaped cross section measured to be exactly the distance of one meridian line between Dunkirk, France and Barcelona Spain. Along with a platinum gram, they have a platinum everything to keep track of exactly how long or short or heavy any measure’s measurement is supposed to be. And up until 2006, there has been a platinum copy of the reels of John Wayne’s The Searchers in the section marked “Movie Westerns.” John Hillcoat’s and Nick Cave’s The Proposition won just about every Australian movie award available and completely took The Dirty Dozen and The Searchers out of the running for best western ever made. Guy Pearce (The Time Machine, L.A. Confidential) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, The Departed) lead the veteran cast through Nick Cave’s expert screenplay to produce the best Australian drama since Mad Max.

The movie opens onto an incredibly subtle series of photographs. The photographs are all documentary pictures from Australia during the 1880s (the setting of the movie) which give the audience a sense of the universe we¬†are about to enter. There are period photos of Australian white men and Aborigines to begin (which is pretty daring considering the taboo associated with the Aboriginal culture regarding viewing photos of the dead – the filmmakers however, very respectfully include a warning before the credits begin to announce that there will be photographs of dead Aborigines in the film, an absolute¬†milestone in terms of cultural awareness); the subtlety enters when a cast photo is shown – it’s easy to overlook, but Ray winstone and company are featured in a portrait of the lawmen of the local township in the movie, and from then on, the story begins. As the credits continue, we are shown photos of “The Hopkins Outrage” – the aftermath of a heinous triple-murder / rape committed by the evil Burns Gang.

I would be neglecting my duties as a critic if I didn’t mention how truly bleak this movie is. I won’t go so far as to say that all is lost from frame 1, but this is no 1960s Steve McQueen saddle-up and shoot the baddies kind of western. No one gets shot in the tummy and doubles over saying “Oh! you got me!” There is a simple, but honest brutality in this movie that the Captain Stanely character is desperately trying to fight. His nearly-hopeless pleas of bringing civilization to such a bitter landscape become the real irony of the film, and have you wondering if such a thing as “civilization” ever really existed in the first place.

Charlie Burns (Pearce) is an outlaw – plain and simple. Captain Morris Stanley (Ray Winstone) is a lawman – plain and simple. Charlie is one of three brothers in the “Burns Gang,” and as the movie opens, he is taken prisoner along with his simpleton brother Mikey by the virtuous Captain Morris (Winstone) and his suspiciously untrustworthy deputy. But (of course) nothing in a western is ever simple. The true evil behind the Burns Gang is Arthur – the third brother. Captain Morris makes a deal with Charlie – he has until Christmas (only a few short days) to kill his older brother Arthur, or his younger brother Mikey will be hanged.

brothers

And I’m not saying the two movies have any similiarity to each other in the least (except the very, very least), but The Proposition always reminds me of the only good Joel Schumacher film ever made: Falling Down. Hillcoat’s lighting and perfect use of on-location shooting make this film seem so extremely hot. Sand gets everywhere. Even after taking a bath in one of those on-the-beach stalls in Corpus Christi, sand will always find its way into your car. And the lighting Hillcoat uses and the orange-ness of Australia make you sweat just watching Ray Winstone as he sits completely still in the sun. And the intent is unmistakable. Australia is hot, and the landscape is made as much a character in The Proposition as the landscape becomes in other movies such as Tremors or 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The God-forsaken country of Australia is viewed in the same terms as the Wild West in movies like Clint Eastwood’s The Unforgiven or John Wayne’s Big Jake. There is such a sense of isolation and despondance, that you can’t help but compare it to other great horror and science fiction which deal with the consequences of isolation. The two main story-lines start out in the same point; Captain Stanley and Charlie Burns part ways after the initial shootout – and end up in the same point, at the dramatic climax that you know is coming from the very outset of the movie.

More Complete Cast List
Charlie Burns – the anti-hero – Guy Pearce

Captain Morris Stanley – the hero-hero – Ray Winstone

Martha Stanley – the innocent – Emily Watson

Arthur Burns - the misanthrope – Danny Huston (X-Men 3)

Eden Fletcher – the suit – David Wenham (300)

Mike Burns – the boy¬†- Richard Wilson (Clubland)

Jellon Lamb – the bounty hunter – John Hurt (in an incredible and Oscar-worthy performance (Alien)

But, of course, the glory is the struggle. The Captain, who is trying to protect his beautiful English wife (Emily Watson, Equilibrium, Red Dragon) from the horrors of the Australian wilderness, must cope with the consequences of letting a ruthless criminal go free while also trying to keep the peace at his home (what he attempts to keep an island bastian of civility amid the harsh reality of the outback). And at the same time, Charlie Burns, who knows his brother Arthur is a terrible blight on society at large, has to deal with the reality of his own heinous crimes as well as the allegiance he owes to each of his brothers.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

The movie’s soundtrack (composed by Nick Cave) is an interesting mix of violin solos (performed by violinist Warren Ellis) and that usual Nick Cave folk/country/rock/orchestral mix that he does so well. From the opening credits song, the traditional “Happy Land,” through the motif of the voice/over activated “The Rider,” Cave and Ellis deliver an incredibly haunting and moody score to a haunting and moody film. Personally, the soundtrack was my entry into the movie. Taking full advantage of my “Mogwai Radio” station as provided by Pandora.com, I heard bits and pieces here and there of the score and just had to see a movie with such an outstanding vision.

The relationship of between Morris and his wife (possibly my personal favorite on-screen husband/wife combo) is so convincing that even if you don’t get down to the major conflict of the movie, their obvious love for and devotion to each other keeps the action interesting. The first time I saw this movie, I kept looking for a flaw in their marriage, but it’s just so obvious that they really do love each other. In such a dystopian world, to have a central married couple truly care about each other is so refreshing as to invigorate the entire movie. I always end up watching the movie in terms of Morris and Martha instead of Charlie and Arthur, and dammit, I like it that way. Love is a good thing, and if there aren’t any characters you can root for, what the hell is there worth dying for? So if you don’t like westerns, you should’ve stopped reading a hell of a long time ago – so go away. But if you’ve liked any of the spaghetti westerns you’ve ever been told you should like, and even if you thought¬†The Good,¬†the Bad and the Ugly wasn’t all it was cracked up to be (in which case I’d call you “wrong”), to you I say in as few words as I can possible use to recommend it: WATCH.