Gasman (1998)

Director:

Lynne Ramsay

Writers:

Lynne Ramsay (writer) and
Harold Manning (french adaptation)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

It's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car...

Plot Keywords:

Children | Toy Car | Pub | Railroad Track | Christmas

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Lynne Ramsay Jr.	...	Lynne
Martin Anderson	...	Steven
James Ramsay	...	Da
Denise Flannagan	...	Ma
Jackie Quinn	...	Woman
Lisa Taylor	...	Girl
Robert McEwan	...	Boy

Directed by
Lynne Ramsay

Writing credits
Lynne Ramsay		(writer)
Harold Manning		french adaptation

Produced by
Gavin Emerson	....	producer
Barbara McKissack	....	executive producer
Oscar van Heek	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Alwin H. Kuchler

Film Editing by
Lucia Zucchetti

Production Design by
Jane Morton

Art Direction by
Chris Cull
Robina Nicholson

Costume Design by
Gill Horn

Makeup Department
Nikki Brannan	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Karen McConnel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chi-shan Cheung	....	third assistant director (as Chi Shan Chung)
Anneli Downing	....	first assistant director
Nigel MacInnes	....	third assistant director
Marvin MacKenzie	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Andy Drummond	....	art department assistant
Vivien Mackay	....	assistant art director
Jamie MacWilliam	....	art department assistant
Tim Munro	....	art department assistant

Sound Department
Kenny Allan	....	boom operator
Stuart Bruce	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Lucien Grieve	....	grip
Ian Jackson	....	gaffer
Henrietta Larkin	....	clapper loader
Drew Mansell	....	electrician
David Taylor	....	electrician (as Dave Taylor)
Scott Ward	....	focus puller

Other crew
Margaret Graham	....	continuity
Leigh Hurst	....	production assistant
Joan Johnston	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Holy Cow Films
• Scottish Arts Council, The
• The Scottish Film Production Fund

Distributors

• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

15 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

This short film is featured on the Criterion Collection DVD for Ratcatcher (1999).

Movie Connections:

Edited into Cinema16: British Short Films (2003) (V)

Merry Christmas, social realist style.

It's grim up north the old saying goes; Gasman by Lynne Ramsey won't change that stereotype but it does illustrate the talent of this director. This short film shares similarities with the both work of Mike Leigh and social realist 'kitchen sink' films of the sixties, in showing a slice of life story from the lower classes. Read; bleak setting and diegetic sound.

Set in an undisclosed Scottish city at Christmas, the story concerns a day in the life of lower class father (James Ramsey), daughter Lynne (Lynne Ramsey Jr) and son Steven (Martin Anderson) as they walk the tracks. En route, they mysteriously pick up more children from a woman (Jackie Quinn), Lisa (Lisa Taylor) and Robert (Robert McEwan).

Gasman is a powerful piece, due in no small part to the performance by Lynne Ramsey Jr. It is a powerful portrait of a working class young girl and the confusion she faces. When pretending to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, you really believe that 'There's no place like home.' The supporting cast are also suitably bedraggled for their characters to be believable. There are some fine visual flourishes in this short piece; the close shots of people getting ready for their day out give the film a very intimate feel, as if you are really looking into their family life. There is appropriate use of light and dark contrast, in particular as they are in wide shot walking up the tracks. Also, the working club Christmas party is visual delight, with child POV shots, slow motion and chopped up editing.

At times the Scottish dialect is quite hard to follow with the sound quality being quite raw. My main issue with the film would be that Gasman doesn't have anything original to say. Gasman is suitably bleak according to genre convention but its essential message being that it's challenging growing up in a lower class environment has been a mainstay of social realist cinema since before Kes. Still grim it would seem.