I attended the screening of Ratcatcher in Glasgow as part of the Edinburgh Film festival where it was very warmly received. At times it is not an easy film to watch but it is hard not to relate to the struggle of the young boy at the centre of the story as he tries to make sense of his situation and to dream of an escape from squalor. The incident at the heart of the story and it's impact on the boy is developed in an understated way while never leaving you in doubt about it's devastating effect. The non-professional cast are uniformly excellent, particularly the boy playing the main character, and the film always feels rooted in the real lives of real people continually up against it. The humour and casual violence have considerable impact by being used sparingly and there are moments of great tenderness, particularly between the boy and an abused girl in his street. The film is set in Govan during the binmen's strike of the late seventies and it looks quite bleak yet the colours are deep and rich. This is a serious film with real depth and an exceptionally promising debut from Lynne Ramsey.
67 Reviews
S'greeeet
ThurstonHunger23 February 2004
Well it's hard to say I loved a film like this, with so much darkness in the scenes and darkness in the script. And yet I did love this little dusky descent into childhood.
The waters of the hungry canal, ominous and omnipresent are set off nicely against the clearer, redemptive waters of baths throughout this film. William Eadie as James is tremendous throughout, most especially in his scenes with young John Miller's Kenny.
Unlike Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing" which I recently saw, this film I think had more than a little leavening in its bleak peak at the underclass. Despite rarely going ten minutes without a strong feeling of apprehension washing over me, there were enough warm flashes of affection to make this feel more like we were seeing people, and not statistics brought to life.
I'm not sure how Lynne Ramsay did it, but whenever the kids laughed, it felt genuine. It would have been interesting to be on the set. The interchanges between James and his Da made me think of animals, like a pack of lions and the eldest male just cannot do right by his father. Of course the father is flawed here, but thankfully it is not one of those television sitcom Dad's...devoid of any redemptive features.
The whole cast was tremendous really...from Tommy Flanagan's scarred sweet Da to the four schoolboys of the apocalypse to Lynne Ramsay Jr's transparent purity. Through the murkiness of the film, we can see the hope glimmering just below the surface, you only hope those characters in the film's flow can see it as well.
If you feel like I do that sorrow is an inescapable element to this world, but not one to be rinsed off and left far away from our dreams, cinematic and otherwise, I highly recommend you see this film. From the trajectory of Ramsay, Sr's shorts included on the DVD (and her take on Morvern Callar) I look forward, albeit with apprehension still, to her next work.
8/10
The waters of the hungry canal, ominous and omnipresent are set off nicely against the clearer, redemptive waters of baths throughout this film. William Eadie as James is tremendous throughout, most especially in his scenes with young John Miller's Kenny.
Unlike Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing" which I recently saw, this film I think had more than a little leavening in its bleak peak at the underclass. Despite rarely going ten minutes without a strong feeling of apprehension washing over me, there were enough warm flashes of affection to make this feel more like we were seeing people, and not statistics brought to life.
I'm not sure how Lynne Ramsay did it, but whenever the kids laughed, it felt genuine. It would have been interesting to be on the set. The interchanges between James and his Da made me think of animals, like a pack of lions and the eldest male just cannot do right by his father. Of course the father is flawed here, but thankfully it is not one of those television sitcom Dad's...devoid of any redemptive features.
The whole cast was tremendous really...from Tommy Flanagan's scarred sweet Da to the four schoolboys of the apocalypse to Lynne Ramsay Jr's transparent purity. Through the murkiness of the film, we can see the hope glimmering just below the surface, you only hope those characters in the film's flow can see it as well.
If you feel like I do that sorrow is an inescapable element to this world, but not one to be rinsed off and left far away from our dreams, cinematic and otherwise, I highly recommend you see this film. From the trajectory of Ramsay, Sr's shorts included on the DVD (and her take on Morvern Callar) I look forward, albeit with apprehension still, to her next work.
8/10
Melancholic tenderness prevails
JGTurner-364-3003077 May 2012
Ratcatcher is a beautiful film set in the less aesthetically pleasing back drop drop of the Glasgow tenement blocks of the nineteen seventies. It's a story about childhood, tragedy and an unutterable struggle against circumstance and surrounding before your life has barely begun. This is not a film that roars though, on the contrary it is a very quiet piece with a wistful message. Lynne Ramsey's directorial approach is seemingly non-obtrusive, capturing a naturalism of the child actors that some film makers could only dream of. There are moments that are incredibly bleak, but a melancholic tenderness prevails. The dream like quality as main protagonist James escapes his rat-infested urban home and escapes to the countryside are some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful scenes I have ever witnessed on film. As he runs out into golden fields, encompassing a little boy who is holding onto his childhood with fingertips...
my favourite film
frozensnail26 November 2004
this is my favourite film. it was like watching a mirror of what being a kid was all about, which i guess makes it harder for those with a carefree childhood to identify. i loved ramsay's ability to create intense and harsh situations without slipping into the provocative manipulation that is characteristic of many similar child starring films (think harmony korine). the characters are subtly built through their actions and their treatment is compassionate - this could have easily turned into one of those films lacking a single likable character, but instead the amoral approach shows off their beauty and humanity through their flaws. the cinematography is easily one of the best i've seen and its tones perfectly serve the substance, merging the poetic and stark realism. the actors and non-actors can hardly be distinguished from each other, it's the type of film where everyone just seem to be themselves, and lynne ramsay is truly a master of releasing the most meaningful expressions from her actors.
the ending as someone else mentioned can be taken both realistically or symbolically, but the scene resolves james's guilt whichever way you take it.
this film is not an easy watch and one should be prepared for an intense emotional experience or else it could get intolerable.
the ending as someone else mentioned can be taken both realistically or symbolically, but the scene resolves james's guilt whichever way you take it.
this film is not an easy watch and one should be prepared for an intense emotional experience or else it could get intolerable.
Well Worth Watching
julie-11718 October 2004
Who are these people saying that RATCATCHER is "pretentious art-house crap" ?? I suppose what they want is just good IL' downhome Hollywood swill? Don't they pay any attention at all to things like lovely cinematography, fine writing, and careful pacing? RATCATCHER is a beautiful movie, though hard to watch because of the desperate conditions of its main characters. It's full of worrisome situations and a complicated storyline that sticks with you for days. It has qualities of both compression and mystery, much like well-crafted poetry has compared to prose. Don't believe the whiners about this movie - it's NOT pretentious, it's inclusive and generous, and though it doesn't provide us with an easy let's-have-popcorn-and-watch-Schwarzenegger-blow-things-up kind of entertainment, it's well-crafted, well-written, beautifully shot, and worth watching and thinking about.
A very powerful movie which will stick with you for a long time
Wills-56 November 1999
I saw this movie recently at a special Student premiere in Leicester Square in London. I'd read a few reviews from various magazines about the movie and its lack of Narrative structure, but from watching the first 5 minutes, I knew this was something special. This has to be one of the most powerful British Movies ever made. The acting is superb, the whole cast is brilliant especially the children. Lynn Ramsey directs her feature debut with confidence and professional ability, and the result is stunning. The Narrative does give way slightly after the "accident" and the movie seems to forget about that fateful day on the canal, it seems to drift a little, but this, as I found out afterwards was on purpose. The movie was originally envisaged as 20 short stories which came into one, and it was also designed so the audience would always have this event in the back of their minds throughout the movie and whenever something relevant happened you were instantly reminded of it. Their are a few minor controversial scenes in the movie which some members of the audience did not agree with and others simply laughed off - I was not bothered about the main controversial scene but could see and hear that some people were offended. The setting of Glasgow in the late 1970s is well represented, and set around the dustbin men strike of '76. The atmosphere of living in a disease ridden place like this with rubbish piling up on every corner is almost tangible. The balance between bleakness and humour is never crossed too far either side. The subject matter is very depressing and humour was therefore injected in places (such as the rat on the moon sequence) to lighten up the audience and not have them leaving the cinema depressed.
This movie is a real stunner, don't be fooled by reviews and magazines saying otherwise go and see this movie at the first possible chance. You will not be disappointed.
This movie is a real stunner, don't be fooled by reviews and magazines saying otherwise go and see this movie at the first possible chance. You will not be disappointed.
Okay, but could have done with more story, less atmosphere
bburns6 March 2001
In the first scene of "The Ratcatcher", nine- or ten-year-old James (William Eadie) accidentally drowns his friend Ryan as they play in a canal. From then on, there's about an hour of grim shots of Glasgow covered in garbage and vermin before the story resumes. We meet James' friends and family--his loving mother; his spiteful, alcoholic father; his sisters; a gang of neighborhood bullies; his friend Margaret Anne, an older girl who lets him see her naked and touch her privates; and his friend Kenny, who is mildly retarded and collects animals for his private zoo.
What we don't see is much of a point to all this until the final act. Some viewers may not find it worthwhile to watch all this unremitting gloom for a final payoff. I personally thought that even though there were few unnecessary scenes, they could have been paced a little better.
Another problem I had was with the subtitles. These people are speaking English, and for the most part they speak it clearly. As a person of Scottish heritage, I was insulted.
Nonetheless, I do recommend this film. In the scenes where the story moves forward, it attains a powerful urgency, and the acting is uniformly great.
This is a grim, slow, but fairly good film. 7 out of 10.
What we don't see is much of a point to all this until the final act. Some viewers may not find it worthwhile to watch all this unremitting gloom for a final payoff. I personally thought that even though there were few unnecessary scenes, they could have been paced a little better.
Another problem I had was with the subtitles. These people are speaking English, and for the most part they speak it clearly. As a person of Scottish heritage, I was insulted.
Nonetheless, I do recommend this film. In the scenes where the story moves forward, it attains a powerful urgency, and the acting is uniformly great.
This is a grim, slow, but fairly good film. 7 out of 10.
A Glasgow slum boy dreams of escaping
paulellissutton7 August 2000
This is the most beguiling British film about childhood since Kes (1969), a slowburning look at days in the life of a small boy on the brink of adolescence. He has adolescent encounters, including an uneasy bath with an unpopular older girl, but he's very much a pre-adolescent child, with all the helplessness and vulnerability that that means. Lynne Ramsay's great strength as a filmmaker is an ability to recreate the world as seen through her characters' eyes. From with the deprivation, the film is set on a housing estate during a binman's strike, she finds moments of real beauty - a joyfully filmed tumble in a hayfield - and strikingly surreal moments, such as a backward boy's pet mouse flying to the moon on a balloon. If Ratcatcher has a forerunner, excepting Ramsay's own award-winning shorts, it is not The Bill Douglas Trilogy, a semi-still life of a Scottish slum boy, which it eclipses completely, but the great hand-crafted films of Lindsay Anderson: This Sporting Life; If..., and O Lucky Man!
Average art-house social commentary
p.j.maynard-212 December 1999
A nicely shot social commentary on working class Glasgow during the dustmen's strike in the '70s. However it doesn't appear to make any discernable point and whilst this may be all fine and good in the arthouse world of post-modernism it does lose its way and the ending is not really sufficient. If it's a beautifully directed heart-string tugging, take on '70s Britain you're after, Kes is your movie. This is a mere pretender.
Explains The Scottish Mentality Very Well
Theo Robertson6 January 2005
I was expecting to hate this movie with a vengeance . I saw Lynne Ramsey's later film MORVERN CALLAR and thought it was the biggest waste of celluloid it had been my displeasure to see so I wasn't expecting anything better with RATCATCHER However I was surprised by Ramsey's feature length debut .
Let's be blunt this isn't a movie that will pack the local cineplex on a Friday night , it's very low concept and character driven with a naturalistic style as used by Mike Leigh and Ken Loach . But the beauty of this movie is that it shows the world what the Scots are like . People all over the world genuinely believe we wear kilts and play the bagpipes and worship the Loch Ness Monster . Not true . The Scots can be the friendliest people in the world , we can be the most selfish people in the world , and ( Whisper it ) we can be the most ignorant and drunken people in the world too
This extends to the ( Scottish ) world that surrounds the tragic young James . His world is unbearable he looks for love and escape in an unloving miserable world . I guess that's a universal theme but you'd need to be from Scotland to understand this film better . certainly I could relate to it in some parts but like I said it's a million miles removed from a commercial mainstream feel good movie and the use of strong language (The Scots are rather foul mouthed ) alone will turn off a potential audience . You won't confuse RATCATCHER with BRAVEHEART
Let's be blunt this isn't a movie that will pack the local cineplex on a Friday night , it's very low concept and character driven with a naturalistic style as used by Mike Leigh and Ken Loach . But the beauty of this movie is that it shows the world what the Scots are like . People all over the world genuinely believe we wear kilts and play the bagpipes and worship the Loch Ness Monster . Not true . The Scots can be the friendliest people in the world , we can be the most selfish people in the world , and ( Whisper it ) we can be the most ignorant and drunken people in the world too
This extends to the ( Scottish ) world that surrounds the tragic young James . His world is unbearable he looks for love and escape in an unloving miserable world . I guess that's a universal theme but you'd need to be from Scotland to understand this film better . certainly I could relate to it in some parts but like I said it's a million miles removed from a commercial mainstream feel good movie and the use of strong language (The Scots are rather foul mouthed ) alone will turn off a potential audience . You won't confuse RATCATCHER with BRAVEHEART
one of my claims to fame
dostoevsky7518 February 2009
I know you don't get many comments on here like mine but there is actually a kid in this film who is based on me. When i was little, other kids said i tied a mouse to a balloon and sent it to the moon, although it didn't really happen and the other kids were just twisting things for me, this is where lynne ramsay got the idea for the kid in the film who does the same, i knew lynne well, her brother james, who acts in the film was my very first friend as a small child at school, we grew up together though drifted apart. i don't just like this film, i adore it, it brings back memories for me personally. thank you lynne, and if anyone wants to contact me try my email, it is dostoevsky75@hotmail.com thanks x
Catch some, drop some
paul2001sw-130 December 2004
The demolition of the Glasgow tenements marked the end of one chapter in the story of poverty in that city; and sadly, the start of another one, as the bleak new schemes that replaced them soon fell into their own downward cycle. Lynne Ramsay's film, 'Ratcatcher', is an utterly unsentimental portrait of those times, though imbued with a measure of hope that only hindsight proves false. As a chronicler of Britain's working classes, Ramsay's style falls somewhere between the realism of Ken Loach and the artistry of Terrence Davies, although arguably lacking the warmth of either. Moreover, at times 'Ratcatcher' seems stylistically overloaded for no particular purpose (the strange fantasy scene with the mouse, for example, seems out of place in the rest of the movie), while when the film gets it right (such as in the opening scenes, which are almost unwatchably harrowing), it's still unclear for what higher aim Ramsay is putting her audience through the emotional wringer. Perhaps if the film was a little less "arty", more conventionally narrative-driven, and with more obvious sympathy, it might actually be more enjoyable to watch. On the other hand, most films which attempt to offer these conventional virtues end up formulaic, sterile and empty, whereas Ramsay's film is raw and in places very powerful. Taking this film together with 'Morvern Callar', her second feature, my feeling is that Ramsay is a director of considerable talent, but maybe still trying, in this early phase of her career, a little too hard. 'Ratcatcher' is not a great film; but hopefully hints at a great one to come.
Very Good Movie with unforgettable images
juanathan29 July 2005
This is more of a 7.5/10 Lynn Ramsay made a promising debut with this feature. It is the typical first feature. They make an above average movie where they can later improve on their techniques to create a "great" film.
I have minor faults with this film. The score at the beginning is too sentimental for such an unsentimental film but later improves itself greatly with the music. I thought the first scene of the accidental death was not documented enough and it leaves you pretty confused. Some of the characters' problems go in and out of the movie and I just wished there was more insight. A few of Ramsay's techniques got a little tiresome.
Ahhhhhhhh. Great Imagery. I am such a sucker for good cinematography. There are three beautifully poetic scenes in the film you will not forget(the pasture, the trip to the moon, and the wonderfully ambiguous end that reminded me of My Own Private Idaho)The film gets good performances all around. The protagonist James is interesting but very mysterious because Ramsay keeps most of her characters at a distance. The protagonist's father is also a standout. It never let me get bored and was interesting. There are some very well done scenes involving the protagonist's father. In the latter part of the film, the score is used very effectively.
I have minor faults with this film. The score at the beginning is too sentimental for such an unsentimental film but later improves itself greatly with the music. I thought the first scene of the accidental death was not documented enough and it leaves you pretty confused. Some of the characters' problems go in and out of the movie and I just wished there was more insight. A few of Ramsay's techniques got a little tiresome.
Ahhhhhhhh. Great Imagery. I am such a sucker for good cinematography. There are three beautifully poetic scenes in the film you will not forget(the pasture, the trip to the moon, and the wonderfully ambiguous end that reminded me of My Own Private Idaho)The film gets good performances all around. The protagonist James is interesting but very mysterious because Ramsay keeps most of her characters at a distance. The protagonist's father is also a standout. It never let me get bored and was interesting. There are some very well done scenes involving the protagonist's father. In the latter part of the film, the score is used very effectively.
Poetic urban decay
Prismark103 December 2017
When I last visited Glasgow I thought the city was a lot more vibrant, respectable even glamorous than the griminess depicted in Ratcatcher.
Lynne Ramsay's film is set in 1973 Glasgow where rubbish is being piled up because of the dustbin men strike. There is sordidness in the council tenements, rats, lice, dirty canals, drunken men and feral kids.
Twelve year old James (William Eadie) yearns for a world out of this neighbourhood. In fact a bus ride to the edge of a city among fields shows him what is possible, maybe for the first time in the middle of nowhere where a new estate is being constructed he has left the city behind him.
James might be no saint himself. His school friend drowned while he was playing with him in the canal. Some of the older kids he hangs around with are bullies, they treat a teenage girl as a plaything. At least James finds some tenderness with her.
This is a grim but haunting and poetic film. The story is not told in a straightforward narrative. Ramsay has an eye for visuals which suggests an inspiration from Terrence Malick. A sequence of a mouse going to space tied to a balloon uses music from Badlands. The film also has influences from Ken Loach's Kes and Truffaut's 400 Blows.
Lynne Ramsay's film is set in 1973 Glasgow where rubbish is being piled up because of the dustbin men strike. There is sordidness in the council tenements, rats, lice, dirty canals, drunken men and feral kids.
Twelve year old James (William Eadie) yearns for a world out of this neighbourhood. In fact a bus ride to the edge of a city among fields shows him what is possible, maybe for the first time in the middle of nowhere where a new estate is being constructed he has left the city behind him.
James might be no saint himself. His school friend drowned while he was playing with him in the canal. Some of the older kids he hangs around with are bullies, they treat a teenage girl as a plaything. At least James finds some tenderness with her.
This is a grim but haunting and poetic film. The story is not told in a straightforward narrative. Ramsay has an eye for visuals which suggests an inspiration from Terrence Malick. A sequence of a mouse going to space tied to a balloon uses music from Badlands. The film also has influences from Ken Loach's Kes and Truffaut's 400 Blows.
Immaculate control - maybe TOO immaculate
allyjack20 September 1999
1970's low-end Glasgow looks like an alien landscape in this horrifically depressing chronicle of a young boy's barren life. Set amid a refuse collection strike, the film makes piles of rotting garbage look like part of the infrastructure: rats, dead dogs, and head lice all but crowd out the people. One hopes it's overdone, but you suspect that's barely so. There's no inspiring teacher or rich relative or benevolent neighborhood drug dealer or any of the media of escape that such films often use to lighten the vision: when the kid visits a new housing construction site, and marvels at the space and promise of tranquillity, he might as well be aiming for the moon (which is the ultimate destination, in the film's most explicit evocation of fantasy, of a mouse tied to a balloon). The picture has immaculate control; maybe too immaculate - the viewer may just decide it's too well-crafted and artistically poised a vision of gloom to be true, and quickly sweep it from his or her mind in search of something more heartening. Especially as the film has a carefully ambiguous ending which allows the faint-hearted the option of doing exactly that.
Bonnie Accuracy
LouieInLove3 July 2014
As someone born into a world not too dissimilar from the one presented in this film, I'm well placed to voice an opinion.
When you're a kid, having very little is not an issue. That's not to say you can't comprehend lack of material possession, it's more that you just don't care. You settle into your world with consummate ease and find the joy, the humour and beauty there within. I for one laughed far more as a child with nothing as I do an adult with all the trappings of modern life. Those from outside this world may be shocked or scared by it. However, when it's all you know there is nothing dour or dark there, only a realm of discovery to be experienced like every other child and Lynne Ramsay bottles this essence of youth to perfection.
Ratcather is visually stunning and the story is played out with an expert touch managing to capture a unique glimpse into a very Scottish time and place. I have read other reviews and many use negative adjectives in relation to the world in which this film is set. However I saw nothing but beauty and positives in this reality so similar to the one I once knew. As for the cruelty, well life can be cruel.
Love fae Leith
When you're a kid, having very little is not an issue. That's not to say you can't comprehend lack of material possession, it's more that you just don't care. You settle into your world with consummate ease and find the joy, the humour and beauty there within. I for one laughed far more as a child with nothing as I do an adult with all the trappings of modern life. Those from outside this world may be shocked or scared by it. However, when it's all you know there is nothing dour or dark there, only a realm of discovery to be experienced like every other child and Lynne Ramsay bottles this essence of youth to perfection.
Ratcather is visually stunning and the story is played out with an expert touch managing to capture a unique glimpse into a very Scottish time and place. I have read other reviews and many use negative adjectives in relation to the world in which this film is set. However I saw nothing but beauty and positives in this reality so similar to the one I once knew. As for the cruelty, well life can be cruel.
Love fae Leith
Rats!!!
aciessi9 April 2017
A little boy hides a awful secret, and also enjoys catching mice. This is a dark, and yet beautifully shot, and extremely well written picture. Scenes like the discovery of the wheat field are truly enchanting. Only downside is that the film is Scottish, and the accents are so thick that understanding what any of the characters are saying is a nearly impossible challenge.
Sub titles required
Kapiti Kid28 July 2000
Although in English, actually Scottish, there was still a need for sub-titles at times, as the broad Glaswegian accents had me straining to understand the words.
I loved the mouse and the balloon. Yes the moon is made of cheese.
The ending - did he or didn't he make it to the new house. I say yes - be positive.
A great film.
I loved the mouse and the balloon. Yes the moon is made of cheese.
The ending - did he or didn't he make it to the new house. I say yes - be positive.
A great film.
Visually interesting, nicely acted yet dull
delucadom5 December 2002
There are moments in Lynne Ramsey's "Ratcatcher" that are powerful and affecting--the opening death/murder scene, the moments that follow; James' trip to his future house, his exhuberant play in the field behind. The actors, especially the kids, are convincing, offer very sophisticated, if one dimensional, performances. Ramsey is talented at creating interesting, compelling images--the opening shot; the mouse tied to the balloon and his/her flight into space and crawling on the moon; James trip to his new house. She has a real talent for suggesting activity without showing it--witness the scenes where the boys terrorize Margaret Anne. We never actually see what they do to her, which makes the scenes much more compelling and disturbing. It's almost as if she's telling us that what they are doing to her is too ugly for our eyes. Her use of "off-screen" space is remarkable. Her cutting is interesting. The opening death/murder scene is cut so abruptly with significant gaps of time missing that it properly mimics the way in which the human mind absorbs and experiences traumatic moments. She captures the confusion and shock and horror of the moment. So, there is a lot of promise in Ramsey as a filmmaker, yet, "Ratcatcher" would probably have been better as a 40 minute short than a 90 minute feature. This slight story, which has barely any narrative progression or momentum, is slow, dull, and repetitive. It's running time weakens, does not strengthen, the film's impact. Maybe this is understandable considering that this is Ramsey's first feature length film. I think she's still adjusting to a longer story form. She's still thinking in short film terms. Having said that, I think she has an interesting style that, given stronger scripts, could lead to much more satisfying films.
a stunning debut from Lynne Ramsey
graeme_fairchild5 June 2001
One of the best British films of the nineties, Ratcatcher is a powerful evocation of the uncertainty and surreal nature of childhood. The film also has something to say about family relationships, death, and the toll poverty takes on people (in this case, in the Glasgow of the seventies).
Although the film could be criticised for being fairly slow-paced, I think this is entirely missing the point. The film is more about atmosphere than a linear plot, and the lingering, intriguing glimpses it offers of the young character's life will stay in your memory like a particularly vivid dream.
I expect great things of Lynne Ramsay in the future.
Although the film could be criticised for being fairly slow-paced, I think this is entirely missing the point. The film is more about atmosphere than a linear plot, and the lingering, intriguing glimpses it offers of the young character's life will stay in your memory like a particularly vivid dream.
I expect great things of Lynne Ramsay in the future.
Devastating and sorrowful but full of poetry and grace
Quinoa198414 November 2021
Ratcatcher is an unabashedly dreary film, but it's also painfully honest about the conditions that these children and their parents lived in at this time and place in Glasgow of the 1970s. The main spine is around a young man's sometimes guilt and pain over being with another boy who drowned in a canal (he almost could have drowned as well), but there isn't much to investigate with that as Lynne Ramsey as an artist wants to simply depict behavior.
And, of course, it's never so simple: we as an audience are made to witness the kinds of unruly young (male) bastards who don't have much to do and no intellectual pursuits, so the young people around James go about and make the local young woman be presented to them as a sexual object and bully and just do what adolescents do which is be terrible to one another... because what else is there to do?
I make it sound reductive but Ramsey finds these young faces and bodies and they feel plucked out of this place and time. Was it so miserable and sad then in Glasgow? Search me. But this could be seen in any number of places in the world where society doesn't do much for its people until, as it happens towards the end here, that it's time to come and take out the garbage en masse.
That doesn't mean dead rats won't pile up or the occasional boy won't drown again, or that mothers and wives don't have to take abuse from their father/husbands when they're without much in their own ways of aspirations. Why do much to do any better? There's a football game on TV and more beer and cigarettes to imbibe (and cigarettes not the word the dad played brilliantly and without a shred of ego by Flanagan).
I make this sound like a totally miserable thing to watch, but it isn't really. She doesn't shy away from how James is stuck in these decrepit apartments and hallways, metaphorically under in the water, and it may even be tipping up to the obvious when he goes off by bus to that one house and runs through those epically long and large wheat fields (does this place exist really? A small mystery that only comes back at the very end and itself is still ambiguous, which that part is actually a good metaphor, I think it's just the visual of the boy running in the field that was almost too clear for me).
Ramsey elevates it through this often lively and absorbing behavior from these kids, and those moments she sprinkles in where fantasy is not simply a fun indulgence but necessary; how she shows Snowball after going off on that one balloon is the main example, and it is exhilarating in how she and the crew render this.
And, of course, it's never so simple: we as an audience are made to witness the kinds of unruly young (male) bastards who don't have much to do and no intellectual pursuits, so the young people around James go about and make the local young woman be presented to them as a sexual object and bully and just do what adolescents do which is be terrible to one another... because what else is there to do?
I make it sound reductive but Ramsey finds these young faces and bodies and they feel plucked out of this place and time. Was it so miserable and sad then in Glasgow? Search me. But this could be seen in any number of places in the world where society doesn't do much for its people until, as it happens towards the end here, that it's time to come and take out the garbage en masse.
That doesn't mean dead rats won't pile up or the occasional boy won't drown again, or that mothers and wives don't have to take abuse from their father/husbands when they're without much in their own ways of aspirations. Why do much to do any better? There's a football game on TV and more beer and cigarettes to imbibe (and cigarettes not the word the dad played brilliantly and without a shred of ego by Flanagan).
I make this sound like a totally miserable thing to watch, but it isn't really. She doesn't shy away from how James is stuck in these decrepit apartments and hallways, metaphorically under in the water, and it may even be tipping up to the obvious when he goes off by bus to that one house and runs through those epically long and large wheat fields (does this place exist really? A small mystery that only comes back at the very end and itself is still ambiguous, which that part is actually a good metaphor, I think it's just the visual of the boy running in the field that was almost too clear for me).
Ramsey elevates it through this often lively and absorbing behavior from these kids, and those moments she sprinkles in where fantasy is not simply a fun indulgence but necessary; how she shows Snowball after going off on that one balloon is the main example, and it is exhilarating in how she and the crew render this.
beautiful
bgilch15 March 2003
Mike Geraghty Jr. says it all his review of this beautiful film.
And Ken C. from Hertford is a twit for calling this a British film. It's Scots, through and through, and beautiful.
Ramsay's 2nd feature, _Morvern Callar_ is also good, but go out of your way to see _Ratcatcher_. Well worth it.
And Ken C. from Hertford is a twit for calling this a British film. It's Scots, through and through, and beautiful.
Ramsay's 2nd feature, _Morvern Callar_ is also good, but go out of your way to see _Ratcatcher_. Well worth it.
A grim, arty debut
freemantle_uk27 September 2013
Grim social dramas and kitchen sink dramas are a stable of the British film industry. There are ever present in some form or another and Ratcatcher served as Lynne Ramsay's directional debut.
In a rough housing estate in Glasgow in the 1970s James Gillespie (William Eadie) is a 12-year-old boy who accidentally kills another boy during a fight. Despite his guilt James hopes his family can move to a new housing estate and way from the urban decay and poverty of his home area as rubbish builds up on the street. During the course of the film James befriends an older girl, Margaret (Leanne Mullen), who is used as a sex toy for a gang of local thugs, sees the anti-social behaviour and social deprivation of the area.
Ratcatcher is certainly a grim film as we see the world of urban poverty, whilst Ramsay also adds some artistic flashes. Ratcatcher is an art-house film that film scholars would eagerly dissects every scene and shot with glee. But as a story there is no real narrative throughline, as elements are more loosely connected. There are obvious themes about a young boy coming-of-age, losing his innocents in a number of ways, his sexual awakening and wider themes about urban decay, social commentary about ignored estates and how authority is distrusted as we see it through a child's eyes.
There are many story lines that could easily have worked as their own films, whether it is a whole story of a young boy trying to hide what he did whilst also struggling alone with his guilt, or a film about why Margaret is abused and the impact on the girl or even seeing more through the boy's eyes.
Ratcatcher is a very well-acted film with the young cast and Ramsay does not shy away from the more controversial aspects of the film. Ramsay does showcase a very cruel environment that is tough to watch (and it meant to be). Ramsay also has more dreamy quality to some of her scenes and shots, such as when James is running in a field. But there is a sequence with a mouse floating when tied to a balloon which was really out of place.
Ratcatcher is a solid debut film from Ramsay, but it is a film that is lacking a real story or drive. There are better films with this type of setting and have more of a story, including the Glasgow set Red Road.
In a rough housing estate in Glasgow in the 1970s James Gillespie (William Eadie) is a 12-year-old boy who accidentally kills another boy during a fight. Despite his guilt James hopes his family can move to a new housing estate and way from the urban decay and poverty of his home area as rubbish builds up on the street. During the course of the film James befriends an older girl, Margaret (Leanne Mullen), who is used as a sex toy for a gang of local thugs, sees the anti-social behaviour and social deprivation of the area.
Ratcatcher is certainly a grim film as we see the world of urban poverty, whilst Ramsay also adds some artistic flashes. Ratcatcher is an art-house film that film scholars would eagerly dissects every scene and shot with glee. But as a story there is no real narrative throughline, as elements are more loosely connected. There are obvious themes about a young boy coming-of-age, losing his innocents in a number of ways, his sexual awakening and wider themes about urban decay, social commentary about ignored estates and how authority is distrusted as we see it through a child's eyes.
There are many story lines that could easily have worked as their own films, whether it is a whole story of a young boy trying to hide what he did whilst also struggling alone with his guilt, or a film about why Margaret is abused and the impact on the girl or even seeing more through the boy's eyes.
Ratcatcher is a very well-acted film with the young cast and Ramsay does not shy away from the more controversial aspects of the film. Ramsay does showcase a very cruel environment that is tough to watch (and it meant to be). Ramsay also has more dreamy quality to some of her scenes and shots, such as when James is running in a field. But there is a sequence with a mouse floating when tied to a balloon which was really out of place.
Ratcatcher is a solid debut film from Ramsay, but it is a film that is lacking a real story or drive. There are better films with this type of setting and have more of a story, including the Glasgow set Red Road.
haunting, enigmatic, beautiful
LunarPoise13 October 2006
I saw Ratcatcher on screen at a film festival in Japan. It was the most personal film I had ever seen - I grew up in Glasgow, I was the same age as the protagonist when the dustbin men went on strike, I climbed among the same mountains of rubbish bags, I could see that canal from my living-room window, I played on the foundations of a new estate being built near my home on the way back from school, and my first love was an older neighbour. When the film finished, I was speechless; I felt like Lynne Ramsay had stolen my soul. She came on stage at that festival and I found out she was my age and grew up down the street from me in Maryhill. That explained the intimacy of the film; however, the most telling comment that evening came from a Japanese member of the audience. He said to Ramsay: "Your film took me back to my childhood. Thank you." The only objectivity I have on Ratcatcher is that man's comment - which was applauded by the rest of the Japanese audience. If he is to believed, this is not just another gritty portrayal of survival in the brutal back streets of Glasgow, it is a universal tale of childhood longing, confusion, loss and redemption. I think you should believe him.
I bought another compendium of British short films just to get hold of the director's 'Gasman,' which is as perfect a short film as you will ever see. It is included in some DVD editions, and is worth looking out for.
I bought another compendium of British short films just to get hold of the director's 'Gasman,' which is as perfect a short film as you will ever see. It is included in some DVD editions, and is worth looking out for.
Glasgow
yusufpiskin13 October 2021
Lynne Ramsay's Les Quatre Cents Coups.
The fact that Lhnne is a photographer is evident in every moment of the film.
It's a great movie, I've been wanting to watch it for 20 years. I'm so glad it premiered on Mubi. I think I'll watch it 10 times.
Glasgow accent is incredibly naive.
The fact that Lhnne is a photographer is evident in every moment of the film.
It's a great movie, I've been wanting to watch it for 20 years. I'm so glad it premiered on Mubi. I think I'll watch it 10 times.
Glasgow accent is incredibly naive.
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