The Priscilla Proposition: A Double Bill of Guy Pearce in the Aussie Outback
October 5th, 2009 | by Gautam |Not many people instantly recall the face when the name is put forward, except for those hardcore Christopher Nolan fans, who might remember him as the ‘memory man’ lead from Memento (2000). Guy Pearce is an actor with a remarkable range and belongs with the likes of the Geoffrey Rushes and Gary Oldmen. He has done two remarkable films set in the harsh Aussie outback, set 11 years apart and his characters sharing nothing in common. First, he plays a cross-dressing Gay performer in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) alongside Hugo Weaving and a transvestite Terrence Stamp. Then he takes us back to the turn of the century as a weathered outlaw caught in an unavoidable deal with the law, where he must choose which of his two brothers lives.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
A 27-year old Pearce plays Adam Whitely, a young gay man who performs in drag as his alter-ego Felicia Jollygoodfellow. Pearce’s character is well built and at the same time displays a sort of womanly grace that makes most of the hardened Aussie gents in the film twitch with homophobia. His character is easily the most pronounced and the loudest among the three, other leads including Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from the Matrix films) and Terrence Stamp (remember Limey?).
The film is a cult-classic among the LGBT and straight folk alike and is a massive road film about the journey to understanding yourself, exploring your inner outback and making choices. The film shines in the fact that it hardly ever gets too emotional and is filled with ample dosages of good humour, coming mostly from the antics of Pearce’s Felicia Jollygoodfellow. Terrence stamp on the other hand delivers probably one of the best performances of his career as a T-woman. The usual macho persona of Stamp is still evident in his blatant sarcasm but takes a backseat during other times. Stamp plays out his part not with reluctance but with all the energy and aura of an operatic god.
Weaving on the other hand, seems to be the most human of the three. The initiator of the journey which forms the central part of the film and the character that is most affected at the end of it, he takes on his role with a sort of honestly and courage mixed with a little helplessness, the sort that reminds you of a reluctant common man trying to win the heart of the beauty queen and eventually settling for the girl next door.
Pearce clearly steals the show and brings life to the film. It’s hard to imagine the film working nearly as good without him. The film features an array of bizarre and brilliantly coloured costumes providing a stark contrast to the bare and muted void of the terrain on which it travels.
The Proposition (2005)
Fast forward 11 years and we have our man taking another journey in the wild Aussie outback, this time with a full grown beard and flies in his face. Set in the 1880s, Pearce plays Charlie Burns, the middle sibling of the Burns brothers, notorious outlaws with a mega price tag on their heads. The film also stars the ever resilient Ray Winstone as Captain Stanley who captures Charlie Burns and his mentally-challenged younger brother and proposes the central proposition that he and his brother may walk free if he captures his elder brother Arthur (played terrificly by Danny Huston) and kills him.
Caught between the Devil and the Deep Sea, Charlie embarks on a rough journey on testing terrain to reach his older brother. The film is scripted by Aussie music legend Nick Cave and directed by John Hillcoat. The film is unforgiving in its cinematography, editing and score, giving you an accurate feel of how merciless the terrain is and what sort of torture the lead character has to endure.
Au contraire to Priscilla, the film features almost no colour whatsoever. The characters seem to merge in and out with the terrain, as if they were merely an extension of it. The colours are muted, the contrast is harsh and there are many flies on almost everybody’s faces.
