The Proposition - 7

This is a 'western' written by Nick Cave. The film takes place in Cave's native Australia, but uses a lot of elements from the traditional Hollywood western for its story and plot development. The basic story is about a gang of bandit brothers, who the lawmen would like to see dead. In an attempt to bring justice a local sheriff gives the middle brother, Charlie (Guy Pearce), the ultimatum of killing his older brother to save his younger one. The brothers live as bandits outside of the town, and the story becomes a way of showing the stark differences between "civilized" life in the town, and the brutal chaos of the outback lands. The question becomes: do humans tame nature, or does nature tame humanity? The final confrontation in the most obvious example where the sheriff and his wife are having a Christmas dinner, when the brothers burst in. The film focuses on Charlie who is on the search for redemption. A word about watching this film, there is a good amount of blood and killing, if you have somewhat of a weak stomach for this, it might be hard to watch. Read Evan's good review here.