Bath

1.
Throughout the film, one never loses the visceral evocation of
this lands harshness. All the characters, with the exception of Martha,
are covered in dirt and sweat suggesting not an aversion to bathing
but suggesting to the audience that no matter what you do, the desert
will impose itself on you.
It is this choice to evoke both the scorched beauty of the outback along
with the filth and sweat of the inhabitants within that is effectively shot
by cinematographer Benoit Delhomme. The grit and grime of the
characters brings back memories of Leones filthy yet compelling
outlaws and townfolk. Not content to be simply a screenwriter, Cave
also composes the films score with alternating quiet passages of him
speaking along with harsh, scratching noise that combines traditional
Aboriginal music with Morricone dissonance.
http://independentfilmquarterly.net/movie-reviews/theproposition.html
Eden Fletcher, guy on white horse, is also clean.
2.
I THINK her bath scene is before/after Stanley being informed of
Mickeys pending deathmaybe an inference to the fact that the
innocent always pay. Followed later by Tobey leaving: alabaster or
porcelain skin/skin worn by elements
3. Maybe a contrast to her prior corseted appearance
4. Allusion to bath vs. later bloodbath
5. My favorite scene was when Emily Watson is in the bath, shot from
behind; the camera moves down to the water droplets on her shoulder as she
describes a dream, the drops of clear water on her bare skin such a
contrast to the sand, mud, and clouds of flies we've seen up to then...
and a slow rack-focus exposes her hands, rising from the water as she
relates the key moment of the dream.
This is one of my favourite scenes visually as well. And not just because we
get to see Emily Watson's shoulders. You refer to the clouds of flies and that
is a reference to the flogging scene where the flies seem to come almost
symbolically to settle on the vengeful townsfolk. Though I think this is
actually quite realistic as in that environment the flies would immediately
gather to dine on the blood.
6/ Contrast like you said to her being raped fully clothed.

COLOR
1. Interior sequences take advantage of the yellow sunlight of the
film with shades and intimate settings including a few shots in
the Stanley home where the blue-green look of one scene is
beautiful as well as a shot with red silhouette that is amazing.
FENCE

Great visual symbolism as well, especially Stanley's fenced-off garden in the

midst of the vast desert. Really shows the futility of his "I will civilize this
land" attitude.
- Brings up the importance of land and landownership
- BIBLE
- Cain and Able