Director John Hillcoat's neo-spaghetti Western, written by musician Nick Cave, transplants the genre's signature tropes to Australia circa 1880 and transforms the stark, surreal beauty of the outback landscape and grinding brutality of frontier life into a sweat-slicked, near-abstract ballet of blood and sand. Squaring off at its center are lawman Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), brought from England by wealthy, pompous Eden Fletcher (David Wenham) to civilize a small settlement in the desert, and outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce), a native son who's raped, robbed and pillaged his way to infamy as part of the notorious Burns Gang. Under intense pressure to kill the Bu...
Released:
2005
Rated:
R
Length:
104 mins