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Clip description
The outlaw Charlie Wilson (Guy Pearce) has been arrested by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). Stanley offers to pardon Charlie and his brother Mike (Richard Wilson), provided Charlie kills his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston), who remains at large.
Curator’s notes
Stanley presents Charlie Wilson with an impossible bargain, but Charlie has no option but to accept. The scene says much about Stanley, an Englishman of lower social status who has come to Australia to better his position. Stanley wants to prove he can tame 'this godforsaken place’ and claim Arthur Wilson as a personal trophy. Arthur is described as an almost mythical figure hiding in a region so forbidding even black trackers will not enter. Stanley is not only waging a war against lawlessness, he is locked in a battle with the land itself. The editing anticipates Charlie’s decision – what other choice does he have? – with shots of him riding out of town long before Stanley has finished his speech.
