| Ratcatcher | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Lynne Ramsay |
| Produced by | Gavin Emerson |
| Written by | Lynne Ramsay |
| Starring | Tommy Flanagan William Eadie |
| Music by | Rachel Portman |
| Cinematography | Alwin H. Kuchler |
| Editing by | Lucia Zucchetti |
| Release date(s) | 12 November 1999 (UK) 13 October 2000 (US) |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English, Scots |
| Budget | N/A |
| Box office | N/A |
Ratcatcher is a 1999 film written and directed by Lynne Ramsay. It is her debut feature film and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
The film won its director numerous awards including the Carl Foreman Award for Newcomer in British Film at the BAFTA Awards, the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival and the Silver Hugo for Best Director at the Chicago International Film Festival.
“Utilizing beautiful, elusive imagery, candid performances, and unexpected humor, Ratcatcher deftly contrasts urban decay with a rich interior landscape of hope and perseverance, resulting in a work at once raw and deeply poetic”.[2]
Ratcatcher never received a wide cinematic release. It was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection.
Contents |
Ratcatcher is set in Glasgow, 1973. The city, despite its Victorian grandeur, has some schemes with the poorest housing conditions in western Europe, such as no running hot water, no bathing facilities and no indoor toilet. The city is mid-way through a major re-development program, demolishing these schemes and re-housing the tenants in new modern estates. The problems in these schemes are somewhat compounded by the binmen going on strike, creating an additional health hazard and a breeding ground for rats. The main character, James, is a 12-year old boy, growing up in one of these schemes, which is gradually emptying, as the re-housed tenants move out. James, with the rest of his family, patiently waits to be re-housed.
The film opens focussed upon James' friend Ryan Quinn, being forced to put on his wellington boots to go to visit his father. He wants to play with James instead and runs of while his mum is not looking. He meets James at the canal and during some rough-house play he is drowned, clearly with James bearing much of the blame.
James lives with his two sisters, one older, one younger and his mum and dad. His dad is an alcoholic womaniser.
The film follows the sensitive James as he tries to come to terms with his guilt, and make sense of the insensitive aspects of his environment. His one escape comes when he takes a bus to the end of the line and ends up in a rural environment where a new housing estate is under construction. He explores the half-built house, and wonders in awe at its view from the kitchen window: of an expansive field of wheat reaching to the horizon. In a scene central to the film he climbs through the window ad escapes into the blissful freedom of the field.
James befriends a girl whose glasses have been thrown in the canal and they become close. She is his only other relief from his home environment. She has problems of her own, allowing herself to be abused by the local male gang. The two find comfort in each other's company.
In a memorable scene, his other friend receives a pet mouse as a birthday present. After the gang throw the mouse around to make him "fly" his friend ties the mouse to a balloon and we see it float to the moon where it joins a whole colony of mice frolicking on the moon. The same friend falls in the canal later and is rescued by James' father, making him briefly into a local hero.
The Quinn's leave the area, and on the day of leaving Mrs Quinn gives James the pair of brown sandals she had bought for Ryan on the day of his death.
As James watches his family struggle to survive, and as his female friend allows herself to be sexually used by the local gang, his hope fades and he throws himself in the canal. As he drowns he imagines his family walking across the wheat field to move into his ideal house.