Alalisis, The Proposition

The Proposition

Plot and Main Characters

“The Proposition” is about three Irish brothers, the Burns brother’s gang, being accused of savage rape and murder of pregnant Eliza Hopkins, herhusband and their baby, a family of British settlers. Captain Stanley, a British trooper offers Charlie Burns a proposition: kill his elder brother Arthur, leader of the gang, in order to save his14-year-old, little brother Mikey, who will be hung on Christmas day.
The story takes place in the 1880’s in colonial Australia’s Outback. The landscape is beautiful and harsh; the atmosphere is brutal andmiserable.

Charlie Burns and Mikey Burns:
Charlie and Mikey Burns are very close to each other. Although they have left their brother’s gang, little Mikey is the one whom the townsfolk, demandingfor revenge and the sadistic troopers vent their anger. Charlie is forced to betray one brother to save the other, and he does that in a very well-considered and relaxed way, although he fails in theend and Mikey dies.

Captain Stanley and Martha Stanley
Captain Stanley has been sent to work in Australia with the aim to “civilize this land”. But he is simply overtaxed with the challenge, toprotect his delicate wife, and to establish law and order in this lawless place. He fails when it comes to the realization of his “idea of justice”.



Arthur Burns and Samuel Stote
Arthur Burns isthe most feared member of the gang; he is so vicious that the Aboriginal people call him “The Dog Man”. He is on one side a violent psychopath, but on the other side he longs for love and family andhe is very close to nature, sitting there for hours watching the sunrise, sunset and full moon. Samuel is a kind of retarded boy, a “vicious little cretin”, devoted to Arthur Burns and especiallytalented in singing a traditional Irish song with an Angel’s voice and shooting the Aboriginals head off with his new Winchester.

Personal Opinion and Interpretation

The film is not a typical “The...