The Proposition, a new film written by Nick Cave, will premiere in New York City May 5. In addition to penning the screenplay, Cave co-wrote the soundtrack with Bad Seed and Dirty Three frontman Warren Ellis. The film, directed by John Hillcoat, features a superstar cast including Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson and Danny Huston. The end result of Cave's collaboration with Ellis is Australian through and through, with everything from soft chamber music to ghostly, whispered laments to help build the tension in this score for the grisly film. Fans of the duo's past work should be pleased with the soundtrack, but should expect some twists on the formula. The pair worked tirelessly to ensure the score stood on its own and wasn't just another Cave-Ellis collaboration. "There were no boundaries in that respect, and I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. The music had to be very flexible, and as a result it has a very improvised, loose feel," Cave said in the press release. Cave explained how it all got started to CMJ in a 2004 interview: "The director John Hillcoat, the director of Ghosts Of The Civil Dead, came to me and he said, 'Would you write a screenplay for me about bushrangers, at the end of the bushranger era in Australia?' And I said, 'With pleasure.' Bushranger is an Australian outlaw that lived through the second half of the 19th Century in Australia. Was usually Irish, and lived in the bush and committed low-level [crimes]... And I just wrote the story. I find that very easy, because that’s not my work. Once I’m given the theme, it’s just a matter of writing the story. I have a kind of knack for that, I guess. That's what I do, man." Warren Ellis also reflected on the film: "My connections with Australia get stronger and smaller in an odd kind of way with the more time I spend away from there... It’s been 10 years and I probably feel more Australian these days than I ever did. I’ve lived in Paris eight years and I’m no closer to understanding how the place works. Because I worked on that Proposition film with Nick Cave doing music, it’s so incredibly Australian, that film. I was reading lots of Australian literature at that time. And watching lots of films." The movie's soundtrack will be released February 21 by Mute Records. While the film is already hitting the circuits down under and abroad, Stateside fans should expect a limited release begining with its May premier in New York City. Tracklist for The Proposition : 01. Happy Land 02. The Proposition #1 03. Road To Banyon 04. Down To The Valley 05. Moan Thing 06. The Rider #1 07. Martha's Dream 08. Gun Thing 09. Queenie's Suite 10. The Rider #2 11. The Proposition #2 12. Sad Violin Thing 13. The Rider #3 14. The Proposition #3 15. The Rider Song 16. Clean Hands, Dirty Hands. www.nick-cave.com Additional reporting by Kory Grow
