You know what's great about The Proposition? The flies. All throughout the film there are flies crawling on everyone. It makes the film seem so much more realistic.
I think it was Darrell that commented on the scenery of the film. I think this is an instance where the scenery becomes another actor. Set in a still very wild Australia, the film not only tells the story of the Burns brothers but does a nice job exploring the "civilizing" of a land. The captain seems up for the task but his poor wife is struggling to cling to civilization back in England. Racism persists though the foreigners are dependent on the aborigines for living and surviving in the harsh land, and the Burns brothers seem to have come here to exploit an untamed wilderness.
About those brothers, there is certainly some love there, even when Charlie wants to give it up and Mikey never seemed so suited for the life of a criminal. There are moments where you can see how much the brothers care and how much they really are a family. Charlie seems to have decided there is no other way out for him (and particularly his brother) than to get rid of the other third of the family.
Overall I really loved the vastness of the Australian outback juxtaposed with the grit of the actors (even when waxing poetical) and events on screens and as many of you mentioned, the acting was pretty great throughout. I also love that the movie tells you the whole story without shoving it in your face. You gradually learn of the details of the event that led to this manhunt, and you gradually fill in some holes about characters in the movie. It was nice to watch a movie that didn't feel the need to hold my hand. And finally I love the emptiness of the film. Morally, physically and audibly the film is empty. It leaves for a lot of time to think, to debate the best course of action, to absorb the sunset and to go mad.
(Sorry for missing the midnight deadline!)
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