reviews

I had an unanticipated day off yesterday. Due to mass street flooding the university closed and I got to stay home. I was a bit worried because the water came within about 2 inches of pouring in through my front door, but the rain slowed and the water receded. Not everyone was so lucky....

In other news, I saw The Proposition on Sunday. Someone else described it as brutal and I'd have to agree with that one-word review. There was violence from start to finish and not your normal clean movie violence. This violence drew flies. There was one track of the folio that consisted of flies buzzing. I swear they didn't stop throught he whole movie. Almost everyone was dirty, sweaty and gritty throughout the film.

The story itself is quite simple: the law offers one brother the chance to stop his brother from being hanged if he kills his other brother ("I think we have a title"). The motivation and loyalties of the characters make the film interesting, as well as the idea that people and a town can be "civilized". At times the "good" characters are hateful and the "bad" characters are sympathetic. Life is shown to be dirty and complex in the Australian outback.