My all time top five favourite films is a list that has remained happily undisturbed for the past few years. I've seen some excellent films in that time but nothing that has had me scratching my head and getting ready for the problems of entering a new entry. Until last week when I came out of the cinema having seen The Proposition. This film is simply magnificent. The direction is stunning and should have won the director an Oscar - every scene feels as though it has been carefully thought about and this makes for beautiful and harrowing visions of the wild Australian frontier. The acting is marvellous with Ray Winstone putting in a career best performance (which is really saying something for Britain's best actor). Everyone else is also superb even down to the sinister locals who in their looks and mannerisms seem to have stepped straight out of the nineteenth century. Yes, the film is disturbing and the violence can make for uncomfortable viewing. But this is of course necessary to bring home just how dangerous and anarchic life on the frontier really must have been. The film's score helps to create a haunting atmosphere throughout and the story, though simple, is genuinely moving. I really am not used to using so many superlatives in a film review but The Proposition leaves me no choice. Anyone who enjoys cinema must see it.
Review of The Proposition
