10 Most Visually Stunning Westerns Ever Made

5. The Proposition (Benoît Delhomme)

The Proposition
First Look Pictures

A second entry from Australia on this list, John Hillcoat's brutal drama about the line between good and evil men comes from a script by musician Nick Cave, and contains much of the lyrical horror and beauty found in his work with his band The Bad Seeds, as it charts the journey of two separate men on opposite sides of the law as they sit primed for a collision course under the parched heat of the Outback sun.

Featuring a raft of brilliant, often underplayed performances from Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone and Danny Huston, it's a frequently unflinching mood piece, studied mostly with panoramic visions of a country that looks perpetually on the verge of cannibalising itself with a simmering taste for violence.

It's surely the high-water mark for cinematographer Delhomme, who infuses every frame with such a raw sense of loneliness, even when characters are grouped together en masse for blood-soaked stand-offs. It culminates in further acts of shocking violence - and yet, rendered with an almost dreamy eye, it's impossible to shirk away from the nightmares it unfolds over its closing act.

Contributor

Something of a culture vulture, Mr Steel can historically be found in three places; the local cinema, the local stadium or the local chip shop. He is an avowed fan of franchise films, amateur cricket and power-chords.