Vineyard Cinema: The Proposition

[Jason Morningstar]

Holy crap, I saw The Proposition last night and I must urge all y'all to do likewise.  It's set in late Victorian Australia, 1880-1890, and focuses on a three-way conflict between an uncivilized town that wants to be civilized, a family of notorious outlaws, and a bunch of aborigines caught in the crossfire.  The parallels are obvious. There are no Dogs in the movie, and what makes it so delicious is that everybody (except maybe the aborigines) is making flawed, awful choices and the moral landscape is murky at best.  I kept thinking "OK, what if Dogs rode in now?  What if they rode in now? So, to summarize:

1.  Movie about no-win ethical dilemmas that is readily Dogs-portable?  Check.
2.  Brilliant, fly-covered cinematography?  Check.
3.  Amazing filth-based production design?  Check.
4.  Horribly awful moaning soundtrack by Nick Cave, who also wrote the thing?  Check.