Film Review, The Proposition
Aboriginal Critique Of Nick Cave's Film, And Its Anglo-centric Marketing And Packaging, Silencing The Aboriginal Story
Nick Cave's film "The Proposition" shows great courage in its portrayal of the covered-up frontier Aboriginal war. But does that courage extend to the marketing?
"The Proposition" starring Guy Pearce, is a ground breaking film in terms of its portrayal of frontier guerilla warfare in Australia in the good old days of invasion. It is a real step forward in terms of the way Aboriginal people are framed in the media and in history.
A Realistic Portrayal
It is not a liberal masochist's white guilt fest, but instead is just a realistic portrayal of frontier life in the 1800's. Indigenous characters and stories are not the main focus of the film, which is actually about Irish bushrangers. But the landscape is littered with cattle and human corpses riddled with spears - an acknowledgement (at last) of the unsung frontier warfare that claimed the lives of so many British and Indigenous warriors in the battle for Australia.
There is no Noble Savage romanticism here either. It is refreshing to see David Gulpilil finally playing a real-life Indigenous character with real-life weaknesses, strengths and individual morality issues, rather than the supernaturally "spiritual native" he is usually scripted as.
"The Proposition" sets aside the emotion, the guilt and the judgement associated with contemporary thinking around Indigenous issues, and simply tells it like it is, warts and all. Two thumbs up to writer Nick Cave and Director John Hillcoat.
Gutless Marketing
Now, the downside - I've just spent half an hour surfing the web to find one photo for the article with one of the Indigenous characters, or even the landscape I mentioned. But all the photo's in the galleries for the movie show only non-Indigenous actors, and only shots with European cultural content.
David Gulpilil is not on the bill, and is not even mentioned in the blurbs. And Leah Purcell, possibly the sexiest actor in Australia, doesn't get a look-in either. Even the DVD cover contains no image or mention of the Indigenous subject matter or actors. The vision and courage it took to make this film obviously did not extend to the marketing.
Although, considering the film's content, one could assume this racist packaging reflects the attitudes of the target audience rather than the film makers.
