The Proposition

IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Has anyone seen this film? I watched it the other day with high hopes having read several positive reviews and knowing that the script was by Nick Cave but found it extremely disappointing. It was cliched in all the ways that I didn't expect, and although it looked good in parts, this seemed to fit badly with the gritty feel that it appeared to be trying for. Most importantly it was very boring. I'm puzzled by the universally good reviews it received - has Nick Cave now reached a position where he cannot be criticised?
 
B

Buick6

too punk to drunk
Absolutely.

Boring, pretentious shite, that promised more than it could deliver. Like a 2 hour Nick Cave video clip.

Check out the far wilder MAD DOG MORGAN or KEOMA. you won't be let down.
 
D

D84

Well-known member
A work-mate summed up this movie very neatly:

Apocalypse Now in the bush.

It's a pity it's such a wank: there were so many interesting angles I was hoping it would veer into, ie. anything to do with the colonial experience in Australia, the indigenous experience thereof, which it only touched upon lightly and trod instead the safe Coppola-lite path.

If you want to see a fantastic gritty Australian movie, see Chopper.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I guess Chopper is OK. Didn't really see what all the fuss was about with that to be honest. Maybe I'll check out Mad Dog Morgan, sounds interesting.
 
L

Lichen

Well-known member
Shame. I was looking forward to Proposition, but in the back of mind I was thinking: can Nick Cave really write something that isn't pretentious gibberish?

As far as gritty Australian movies go, I thought Lantana was wonderful....and Chopper kind of self consciously cultish
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
I thought Ray Winstone was awful and the script was a fucking embarrassment. Even John Hurt was quite crap. I thought Danny Huston was pretty good.

Anyone read Nick Cave's novel? I read it years ago and remembered really liking it, which could mean it's actually just a load of adolescent toss - can anyone who has read it more recently enlighten me one way or the other?
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
And The Ass Saw The Angel?
I've read that but likewise was a really long time ago. I thought it was great at the time but who knows. I seem to remember it as being pretty powerful stuff in similar style to Blood Meridian or something.
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
That's the one. My suspicion as an adult is that it probably overplayed the Southern Gothic (ooh, crows, decaying glamour etc etc) element, which would have got me all weak-kneed as a teenager but would bore me a bit now. It was originally published by Black Spring, who've done some other good stuff. Notably a couple books in recent years on quite funny Soho dandy Julian MacLaren-Ross.
 
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