Ray as 'Captain Stanley' and Emily Watson as 'Martha Stanley'. Photo by Kerry Brown
running
time tbc
Producer:
Chris Brown
Director: John Hillcoat
Writer: Nick Cave
Australia-British
Production, budget $20m
Official website for The Proposition
Click here to buy or rent this from Sendit
Location report - Oct 2004 - Australian Sunday Mail
Jan 2005 - First look at Ray as Captain Stanley at Moviehole.net
The film received its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.
Hollywood
Reporter review 13 Sept 05
Evening
Standard review 13 Sept 05
JoBlo.com
review 15 Sept 05
The
Age article on the making of the film 25 Sept 05
NineMSN
review Oct 05
Interview
with the writer and director - The Australian 5 October 2005
The film opened in the UK on 10 March 2006.
Review
in The Scotsman 9 March 2006
Review
in The Evening Standard by Derek Malcolm, 9 March 2006
Review
in The Telegraph, 10 March 2006
Review
in The Independent, 12 March 2006
Review
in The Observer, 12 March 2006
Review
in The Sunday Times, 12 March 2006
The film opened in the US on 5 May 2006.
Review
on Cinematical website 4 May 2006
Review on MSCBC.com
'At The Movies' website 2 May 2006
Review
in The New Yorker 1May 2006
Review
on the Monsters and Critics website 1 May 2006: "No
mistaking though, this is Ray Winstone’s movie. He is the heir apparent to
Oliver Reed: a perfect blend of street hooligan and vulnerability".
Review
on Blogcritics.org website 17 May 2006:
"And then there's Winstone. His Captain Stanley, far
from being the expected hateful authority figure, is a rational man trying to
do the right thing and yet realizing that he's hopelessly overwhelmed. Peering
out onto the desolation of the desert, he exclaims, "Oh, what fresh hell
is this!" and the subsequent story bears this out - The Proposition sees
Stanley trapped in a hell that is partly his own doing and partly circumstance.
He asserts his control early on ("I will civilize this country"), but
it's not long before things slip from his grasp. Note especially the scene where
he's upbraided by Eden Fletcher (David Wenham), his superior, for allowing Pearce
to go free. He starts on equal footing, but by the scene's end he's been reduced
to a dumbstruck child, unable to do much more than weep for the destruction of
his pride and all he thought was right. Pearce may be the lead, but I hope I'm
forgiven for seeing the story as being essentially about Winstone."
Review
on UGO.com website: "Pearce,
Winstone and particularly Huston all deliver some of the best performances of
the year so far in The Proposition."
Review
on MTV.com website: "The
movie is a subtle triumph for Ray Winstone. ... But Ray Winstone's Stanley gives
the movie a strong, beating heart. Stanley may have the soul of a poet, too, but
he's so fumblingly, touchingly inarticulate — about his deep love for his
wife (who understands anyway) and about his fierce belief in the indispensable
virtues of human civilization — that his best intentions are easily misconstrued
and bluntly slapped aside at every turn. His pain and longing, which Winstone
never overplays, are almost too much to bear. Not only do we know what's going
on in his head, we know at every moment what's happening in his heart, as well."
Review
from Associated Press: "Yet it's Ray Winstone,
Emily Watson and particularly Danny Huston who dominate the film. Pearce's facade
of stony stoicism rarely cracks to give a glimpse of the turmoil within, while
Winstone, Watson and Huston subtly infuse their own austere characters with a
great range — desperation, doubt, devotion, resignation."
The Proposition was nominated for 12 Australian Film Awards, including Ray for 'Best Actor. The awards ceremony was on Sat 26 Nov 2005. Further details of the nominations here.
First official publicity photos available at RopeofSilicon.com:
Ray as 'Captain Stanley' and
Emily Watson as 'Martha Stanley'. Photo by Kerry Brown
| The film is set in 1890 and described by the producer as a 'grunty outback epic'. Charlie Burns and his brother Mikey are captured by Captain Stanley. Together with their psychopathic brother Arthur, they are wanted for a brutal crime. Stanley makes Charlie a seemingly impossible proposition in an attempt to bring an end to the bloody cycle of violence. The town of Banyon is being created on a remote Camara cattle station, 25km north of Winton, Queensland.
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