A most unusual proposition
Added 5/26/2007
Rick Ramage has written a nice and tidy little screenplay in THE PROPOSITION. Much like his other works in STIGMATA and HAUNTED, again the Roman Catholic Church plays a significant role in the unfolding of unusual and sometimes quite comical events in the lives of the wealthy Arthur and Eleanor Barret and a certain Roger Martin and Father Michael McKinnan.These four unlikely characters mix in a pre WW2 triste that includes God,lust and murder.Throw in the mysterious housekeeper and you have a quite interesting scenario that at times plays like a daytime soap opera, at times like a French farce and at times like a murder mystery.
Ramage has well defined characters and the five principle actors, William Hurt,Madeleine Stowe,Neil Patrick Harris,Kenneth Branagh and Blythe Danner do their utmost to infuse pathos,comedy and melodrama.What is odd about this screenplay is that it refuses to identify itself in specifically any genre which may add to a mixed-emotion reaction from some who need strict guidelines and tied up ends.Ramage asks some very interesting questions about morality,faith,intentions and forgiveness against a backdrop of feminist repression in 1935 Boston.
This film is actually quite a delightful surprise simply due to the different subject matter.The film is beautifully shot, acted and conceived.THE PROPOSITION has a lingering effect that is not easily forgotten. Really a first rate job by all involved.4 and 1/2 stars****.
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The impossible paternity
Added 12/9/2005
This film is a deep moral more than social drama, in spite of the emphasis set on the social surroundings of the situation. It has nothing to do with the high class circumstances of the protagonists. It has all to do with their Christian conscience and then with their souls, or what they believe to be their soul. What can a rich man do if he is sterile and his wife wants a child. In the 1930s that was a real problem. What happens if another man is used to satisfy the woman ? Blackmail of course and death. The problem is who caused that death not what ? What happens if some nephew appears under a catholic cassock and realizes the wish of the woman ? Old family feuds are revived and amplified. What happens if the mother dies just before delivering twins? The drama thickens and the plot sickens too. A necessary agreement between the uncle and the nephew, a gentleman's agreement, a biblical agreement in which the mother is more important than the father and hence the filiation of the children goes through the mother to the husband, that is all. At this moment it is poignant. And it starts when the husband dies in his turn : what can happen then for the children and for the real father ? Nothing. The priest has had time to understand his faith has to be cultivated in humility and silence not blood and bloodlines, and the children would be destroyed if they learned the truth and the lie they have been raised and fed on. And so goes the world, sad and sinister, bleak and hopeless. It is all a lie because it is all a sham, a fake appearance. And appearances have to be saved above all other considerations.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Université Paris Dauphine, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne
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almost a classic
Added 5/7/2005
This film has a very well conceived underlying idea, and it comes close to being one of the really great movies. It felt to me like it was based on a real experience of some kind. I found that it touched an emotional space of some depth. This struck me as similar to the "Winslow Boy" and "Man in the Iron Mask" in that you feel the author understands and therefore forgives the motivations of all the characters, even the baddies. I'd say these other two movies are slightly better written (getting 9.8s rather than a 9.5), because a few of the lines in this one feel a little bit forced, but there I'm picking nits. I get a solid flavor of universal significance, but it doesn't quite soar with it, like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Onegin"
If what grabs you is sex and scandal, then this is not the film for you. The film is not about that. I think you have to take personal, human love seriously to get it. If you don't, it will just come across as a feeble attempt to shock -- an attempt which loses all its punch because the morals are pre-1960's. We're so advanced. We've moved so beyond that, don't ya know.
For some reason, I reminded of a line from "The Education of Henry Adams, concerning America around the turn of the 20th Century. He said something to the effect that Woman/the Madonna as a Force was giving way to an obsession with the Dynamo, that woman was perhaps no longer so much subservient to her man, but had become slave to the Machine instead. This film dates from a time when that transition was still taking place. It barely predates WWII.
Some of the acting is really great. Branaugh and Hurt have some truly exceptional moments. Hurt has a really difficult part to play -- he has to remain sort of ambiguous all the way to the end until his true colors are revealed, and at that point, all that has gone previously has to seem believable. I think he did that very well. Stowe works very well in her role. I was also very impressed with Blythe Danner as Syril. I think a case could be made that Syril is the true unsung hero in the story, sort of in the way that Samwise Gamgee is in "Lord of the Rings"
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Boston Gothic
Added 3/23/2005
THE PROPOSITION proves to be quite a fine film and certainly deserves more attention than its current limited to VHS format determines. It is an excellent period piece (set in the late 1930s - early 40s), well directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, well written by Rick Ramage, and blessed with a fine cast.
Arthur Barret (William Hurt) and his beautiful, gracious, social hearted, feminist writer wife Eleanor (Madeline Stowe) have everything money can buy - except a child. In desperation Albert hires (propositions for money) a young impregnator Roger Martin (Neil Patrick Harris) who while performing his duties falls in love with Eleanor, all under the hidden supervision of housekeeper Syril (Blythe Danner). She becomes pregnant, but Roger's love for her will not remain quiet, and soon Roger's murdered body is discovered, accompanied by a fall into his grave by Eleanor who miscarries.
The Catholic Church, long the bastion of faith in Boston, is involved with the Barrets and when new priest Father Michael McKinnon (Kenneth Branagh) arrives form England to cleric staff, he avoids the Barrets for reasons unknown until the head priest discovers that Father Michael is actually the nephew of Albert Barret! Eleanor and Father Michael bond, at first because he respects her as an equal, then their bond becomes physical and the result is another pregnancy. The way in which this breach and the secret of the murder of Roger Martin is worked through is the crux of the story - a tale of propositions, deals, secrets, forgiveness, family bonds, religion and love.
The acting is first rate with special emphasis on Stowe, Branaugh, Danner, and Hurt. The photography is sensually dark and very much in keeping with the Gothic nature of the story. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, March 05
4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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What An Offer!
Added 3/15/2005
If you enjoy movies with complex characters and a simple yet tricky plot this film will probably appeal to you because it is filled with great actors and a wonderfully intricate storyline as well as offering up a world of thorny possibilities.
The story takes place during the 1940's when influential people were held to extraordinary standards and morality meant much more than it does today. Society upheld Arthur Barret (William Hurt) and his beautiful wife Eleanor (Madeleine Stowe) but underneath their social relationship lurked a barrenness, literally. Arthur makes the choice to hire another man to impregnate his wife because of his own inability to do so. But what begins as a secret and interesting choice soon gets blown into another dimension once real feelings are mixed up between all of the parties involved. The young man employed as a stud, Roger Martin (Neil Patrick Harris), becomes enamored with Mrs. Barret and threatens to expose the couple to their society crowd. Lurking behind the scenes is housekeeper and busybody Syril Danning (Blythe Danner) who along with her employer put an end to the scandal. But all is not what it seems.
The actors are all very good in this film with the standouts being William Hurt, Madeleine Stowe and Neil Patrick Harris. Of course Kenneth Branagh is wonderful in his brief role here as well and Blythe Danner and Robert Loggia offer perfect supporting roles. It is a complicated story that leaves you wondering what you would have done in the same predicament especially during the 40's when everything seemed morally questionable. With all the availability for childbirth in this era it is hard to fathom how the problem of barrenness was dealt with in earlier times. Either way when a third party enters the realm of a marriage the proof comes out in the pudding or in the proposition.
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