I saw a great movie today: “The Proposition,” a gritty, violent western set in Australia at the end of the nineteenth century. It’s the story of three outlaw brothers wanted for a brutal rape and murder, and the lawman that tries to bring them to justice.

Both the screenplay and the score were written by Nick Cave, formerly the frontman for The Birthday Party and later Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the author of “And the Ass Saw the Angel.” I was a big fan of The Birthday Party in my youth, and “And the Ass…” is one of my all-time favourite novels.

Although the story is typical western fare, everything about The Proposition is superlative: A great dramatic arc, good pacing, amazing cinematography, brilliant casting and acting, an excellent score, etc. etc. If you like westerns and can stomach the violence (I’m quite squeamish about movies but I didn’t have too much of a problem with The Proposition because of the way it was paced), you should see this movie.

My favourite bit of dialogue:

“Are we misanthropes?”

“Hell no! We’re a family.”