Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
The Proposition
John Hillcoat and Nick Cave's brilliant, brutal bushranger western, with Guy Pearce as the outlaw tasked with tracking down his psychopathic elder brother (Danny Huston).
Director: John Hillcoat
Overview
Australia, the 1880s; a furious gunfight between the police and a gang of outlaws ends with Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his simpleton younger brother Mikey (Richard Wilson) in chains, captured by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). Stanley has a proposition for Charlie: if he finds and kills their psychopathic elder brother Arthur (Danny Huston), perpetrator of unpardonable atrocities and, Stanley fears, capable of worse, he and Mikey will be spared. If Charlie fails, Mikey will hang. Without another option, Charlie sets out on the trail of his murderous kin, while Stanley returns to his homestead, fearfully protective of his wife (Emily Watson) and his position, which is being undermined by influential local landowner Eden Fletcher (David Wenham).
The Proposition is a committed bushranger western with an impeccable cast. Evocatively filmed in the hostile Outback, it is a dazzling, flyblown spectacle, referencing the foreboding landscapes of John Ford and the blood, guts and gore of Sam Peckinpah. Amidst ominous surroundings, John Hillcoat's direction is claustrophobic, close and unsettling, while longtime collaborator Nick Cave supplies an exquisite score and, gaining a screenwriting credit for the first time - a superb script, comparable to his unassailable musical output: at turns unforgiving and brutal, at others, romantic and tender.
Contains strong language and strong bloody violenceRelated
Mystery Road Mystery Road
Crime 2013 121 mins Director: Ivan Sen
An Aboriginal cop returns to his hometown to solve the brutal murder of a teenage girl, uncovering a web of corruption and a growing body count, in Ivan Sen's acclaimed Australian riff on the Western genre.
Goldstone Goldstone
Drama 2016 110 mins Director: Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen follows his acclaimed Australian thriller Mystery Road with another distinctive, 'outback noir', with troubled indigenous detective Joe Swan (Aaron Pedersen) again on the trail of murder and corruption.
Walkabout Walkabout
Drama 1970 101 mins Director: Nicolas Roeg
Jenny Agutter plays the teenage girl reliant on a young Aboriginal (David Gulpilil) for her survival, in Nicolas Roeg's stunning Australian outback drama.
Celia Celia
Drama 1989 108 mins Director: Ann Turner
Set in mid-1950s Australia, with the fear of communism in the air and rabbit plagues overrunning the countryside, Ann Turner’s debut film depicts a long, hot summer seen through the eyes and wild imagination of a young girl.
Snowtown Snowtown
Crime 2011 120 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Justin Kurzel's shocking dramatisation of Australia's most notorious serial killings.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Drama 1978 122 mins Director: Fred Schepisi
Fred Schepisi’s Palme d’Or-nominated epic based on the true story of a man of half-Aboriginal ancestry who is pushed to breaking point in the Australian outback in 1900.
Nil by Mouth Nil by Mouth
Drama 1997 129 mins Director: Gary Oldman
Twenty-five years old and newly restored, Gary Oldman’s BAFTA-winning debut as writer-director remains a magnificent achievement.
Face Face
Crime 1997 101 mins Director: Antonia Bird
Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone are members of a criminal gang that tears itself apart after a heist goes wrong, in Antonia Bird’s stylish thriller.
Amores perros Amores perros
Drama 2000 148 mins Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.
Drugstore Cowboy Drugstore Cowboy
Drama 1989 101 mins Director: Gus Van Sant
Matt Dillon and his not-so-merry band of junkies rob pharmacies and cheat death.
Maurice Maurice
Drama 1987 140 mins Director: James Ivory
Merchant Ivory’s landmark adaptation of E M Forster’s classic LGBTQ+ novel and a precursor to the James Ivory-scripted Call Me By Your Name, starring Hugh Grant, James Wilby and Rupert Graves.
Architecton Architecton
Documentary 2024 98 mins Director: Viktor Kossakovsky
Victor Kossakovsky’s film essay looks at the way we have constructed our built world through a series of breathtaking sequences.
Layla Layla
2024 100 mins Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
A British-Palestinian drag performer catches the eye of a strait-laced white man in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s stunning, semi-autobiographical debut.
When I Saw You When I Saw You
Drama 2014 94 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Following the Six-Day War in 1967, a young Palestinian refugee boy yearns to be reunited with his father and joins a band of freedom fighters.