The Proposition
Directed by John Hillcoat
Screenplay and music by
In John Hillcoat and
Drawing inspiration from the 1970s anti-Westerns of Peckenpah and others, the team wanted to reveal a truthful view of a harsh period in
“It was a time when there was great struggle with the land, with aboriginal people. Bush ranger films—Ned Kelly stories—are almost biopics. Making a western opens the canvas to a wider, more truthful view,” says Hillcoat.
MERIN:
HILLCOAT: Similarities are that landscape forms character, and there’re clashes between indigenous people and outside forces. And clashes of law and order.
Differences are,
Most importantly, American westerns see things in black and white—good guys, bad guys.
CAVE:
Did you fight to control final cut?
CAVE: During editing, nine financiers handed John pages with what they thought should go and what should stay. There was a three-way vote that John wasn’t part of. So it was…
HILLCOAT: Hair-raising.
What were the issues?
HILLCOAT: Everything: pace, story, specific scenes.
There was pressure to do flashbacks explaining why Arthur’s the way he is, showing what’d happened at the
CAVE: Several financiers, when they saw a final cut, thought it was really good—but some thought, You fucked us over. The looks on their faces were…
HILLCOAT: Disastrous.
CAVE: It’s a miracle the film’s what it is.
HILLCOAT: Yeah…luckily some financiers moved on, so we had a window of opportunity to restore our vision.
Have you created social debate in
HILLCOAT: Yes, about how we view our history and indigenous people. Unfortunately, I think it’s done fuck-all for indigenous people, but it may have positive influence: People may view history more factually.
Is this a trend after Rabbit Proof Fence?
CAVE: The complaint about that film in some quarters is it’s a white man’s film with regrets for what was done to indigenous people. But aboriginals still aren’t employed in the fabric of filmmaking.
HILLCOAT: There’s more interest in this film…
CAVE: Yeah, ironically, aboriginals have more problems with Rabbit Proof Fence than with The Proposition, which is almost an exorcism of our incredibly racist history.
Nick, did you collaborate with John on the script?
CAVE: John asked for a comedy. John is actually a very dark person and has a dark sensibility about things.
HILLCOAT: Oh, you’re blaming me? Really, we have similar interests. I love research. I wanted something truthful about how brutal those times were. Our history’s been whitewashed…
CAVE: John’s using research to justify that he’s made a very dark film. Actually, John’s more restrained. I’m melodramatic, flamboyant. As a team, we work well because when my writing’s too grand, John pulls me back to the notion of reality.
HILLCOAT: I’d say Nick’s script has contrast. There’re funny lines where audiences laugh, and a lyrical quality.
How’d the story develop?
CAVE: While John was filming the Bad Seeds, we discussed Arthur and his three brothers. By the time we left the studio, we had the idea for The Proposition: Charlie Burns goes to sort out his older brother who’s gone mad in the hills, to save his younger brother. I wrote and e-mailed John 10 pages a day—had no idea how it would end, but knew it wouldn’t end happily.
HILLCOAT: I wanted systematic dismantling of each character.
CAVE: Yeah, going against archetypal expectation, deliberately.
HILLCOAT: I wanted a story on which to hang a tapestry of conflicts—white-on-white, white-on-black, black-on-white, black-on-black violence. Nick’s script embraced all issues, allowed characters to breathe and become interesting.
CAVE: In many films, you never get to know characters.
HILLCOAT: They’re overcomplicated.
CAVE: Or so reductive you instantly know who’s bad because he’s the worst fucking person you can imagine. Watching becomes tedious. The joy of writing Arthur was that he’s a great monster, like a wild dog—then he’s crying like a baby over his brother and reciting poetry. He’s a monster you identify with, unwillingly.
Nick, did you have music in mind while writing dialogue?
CAVE: Yes. The script has music cues. I could hear music and knew it would make certain scenes float OK without dialogue. I don’t think I discussed this with John: I put silent scenes together to give room for larger pieces of music.
HILLCOAT: It’s good we didn’t discuss that. The script’s got the rhythm of drama—still and silent moments, sudden bursts of energy and violence.
Did you score for characters?
CAVE: We went into the studio—me and Warren [Ellis]—and recorded bits of music. Our music editor quickly associated certain music with characters: So, Martha had a stirring string theme; there’s spoken whispering stuff for Charlie; and a kind of woozy string thing for Arthur. It was done fast, cut in quite raw.
HILLCOAT: The script came first, music last. That it came from the same person gave it extra cohesion.
Did you write for specific actors?
CAVE: No, I wrote for John. I wrote fast and, because I thought it would never be made, I wrote whatever I liked.
John, how’d you establish such exacting detail?
HILLCOAT: We studied historical photographs. It’s what I love about Kubrick films—detail so vivid it transports you to another world.
We’re frustrated by period films where everything’s in keeping but with beautifully clean, white teeth. Guy Pearce and I conversed more about hair and teeth than about character. I was blessed that he and all the cast didn’t have vanity and star system stuff on their agenda.
The landscape’s like a character in the film; it seems fried. How’d you accomplish that?
HILLCOAT: It was there. Like the flies.
We shot during summer in the outback. The heat was hellish. We were driven into night shoots ’cause it got so hot you couldn’t touch the camera. But the cast went with it. It was like enforced Method.
Ray stopped in
I worried about Emily. She’d said she could handle the 20s [Celsius], but struggled in the 30s. We were in high 50s. And she wore corset and velvet dress.
That creates the roasted quality. We persevered because we knew—cast and guys carrying drink trays—that would give an extra depth we’d never get otherwise.
We’d meant to shoot in winter. But the money—it was a nightmare—fell apart. By the time we got it back, with our ideal cast, we were approaching summer. We went for it.
Was finding locations difficult?
HILLCOAT: We searched the country for a place that could sustain us, give us scorched earth and bloody caves for Arthur‘s locations.
I wanted to avoid the Qantas ad thing—huge blue sky and red earth. That suited Priscilla Queen of the Desert—which was kitsch.
Danny Huston said you directed him to not raise his eyebrow. Why?
HILLCOAT: It’s what Nick said about restraint and realism. Arthur’s such a big melodramatic character—talking to himself, having grand visions. We wanted to get away from Kurtzian mythology, to have a human monster. Danny’s raised eyebrow was melodrama—Nick would’ve been happy.
CAVE: Did you really tell Danny to not raise his eyebrow?
HILLCOAT: Yeah.
CAVE: That’s funny.
HILLCOAT: It was a breakthrough; I won’t go into it, but we had a slight struggle with character….
CAVE: Well, that’s my fault—the written character was almost Shakespearean…
HILLCOAT: Yeah—Goliath under the burning sun.
CAVE: A giant, living in the hills. Johnny brought him down to earth. To great effect, I think.
What role did accident play in the creative process?
CAVE: I’m not sure it’s accident, but if there’re certain things I need when I’m writing—like if a character sings an Irish song—that song will reveal itself. I’ll pick up a book, and there’s “Peggy Gordon,” and I’ll think, Oh that fits beautifully. It happens all the time. I wouldn’t call it accidental-- just being alert to possibilities around you.
HILLCOAT: It’s like that on set. I deliberately keep myself open to accidents. On The Proposition, we weren’t expecting a rainstorm to hit—everyone thought it a disaster and began packing up. I realized it could be useful and kept shooting, even caught some crew in shots. When lightening happened, I told an extra to walk back and forth—we rolled until it hit again. It‘s a struggle sometimes because of time and money. Producers and ADs running the set say, “Hang on, that’s not in the script.” I’m constantly battling to capitalize on things that happen. In this case we got away with it, and it ended up as…
CAVE: It’s a beautiful shot.
HILLCOAT: And, that wetness enhances the dryness. And there’s the idea of washing sins away.
CAVE: That was a happy accident.
HILLCOAT: Yeah, but there’s also fuck ups.
