“A
wealthy and successful couple have
all that life can offer them except for
the one thing that would make their life
complete, but as they cannot have their
longed-for child their desperation drives
them to make an unthinkable proposal
to a young man whom the husband
is interviewing for a job in their business
— but it is a proposal that will have tragic
consequences in The Proposition...” TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, wealthy industrialist Arthur Barret (William Hurt:
The Incredible Hulk) and his beautiful wife Eleanor (Madeleine Stowe:
Revenge) have everything, living in luxury in 1930's Boston.
Arriving to join the priesthood at St Jude's is Father Michael McKinnon (Kenneth
Branagh: Valkyrie), little realising that he will soon be entangled with
the very people he mysteriously wishes to avoid — the most prominent
parishioners with whom his superiors wish him to become acquainted.
“Beautifully
told
with poignancy and a
heartfelt sense of
longing,
The Proposition
is a touching drama
and a
love story of almost unimaginable torment...”
The
Barrets are much in love, with just one thing standing in the way of their complete
happiness: Arthur is sterile and unable to give his wife a child, despite trying
everything in their power to solve their problem.
Arthur is waiting to interview a number of young men for a position within his
company and with the arrival of attractive and intelligent young Harvard law
student Roger Martin (Neil Patrick Harris: How I Met Your Mother), he
believes he has found the answer to his prayers.
With his wife's full co-operation, Arthur makes a proposal to Roger. He is to
spend a night with Eleanor with the intention of creating a child to be brought
up as a Barret with no knowledge of his unorthodox conception. But will Arthur
be able to bear thinking of his wife in the arms of another? And will Eleanor
be affected in ways she cannot yet envisage?
At first reluctant to agree to this proposition that he appears to find distasteful,
Roger relents and Eleanor becomes pregnant. But the best laid plans of mice
and men have a strange way of crumbling to dust and tragedy is to follow after
Roger falls in love with Eleanor and begins stalking her.
Beautifully told with poignancy and a heartfelt sense of longing, The Proposition
is a touching drama and a love story of almost unimaginable torment. At times
uncomfortable; sometimes amusing, the film benefits from a fine cast that includes
a superb Blythe Danner as housekeeper Syril Danning.
The Proposition also features: Robert Loggia as Hannibal Thurman; Josef
Sommer as Father Dryer; Tom Downey as Torres Harrington; Tom Kemp as Arthur's
Chauffeur; and William O'Donnell as Andre.
Music is Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Stephen Endelman; Director
of Photography is Peter Sova; Written by Rick Ramage; Executive Producer is
Lata Ryan; Produced by Ted Field, Diane Nabatoff and Scott Kroopf; and Directed
by Lesli Linka Glatter. *The
Proposition is released on DVD in the UK by Simply Media on 4 July 2016.
Year: 1998 | Running Time: 107 Minutes | Catalogue Number: 164473 | RRP: £12.99.
"Beautifully told with poignancy and a heartfelt sense of longing, The Proposition
is a touching drama and a love story of almost unimaginable torment" —Maggie Woods
“A
wealthy and successful couple have