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.