So beautifully crafted that it is hard to believe it's a debut feature. This is a child's eye view of life in a run-down council estate in '70s Glasgow during a bin-collectors strike.
The child's eye view is central to creating a near-fairy tale tone despite the grim goings on. We see the adults actions only through a veil of dim comprehension, and view the canal behind the estate as a playground where anything can happen.
The child in question is James, and he has a fairly tough life, with the squalid surroundings, a hard drinking father, an annoying sister, and worst of all, the secret knowledge that he is more or less guilty for an accident no-one suspects had anything to do with him.
The film follows James over the course of a Summer as he simply hangs out, and dreams of a better, brighter future.
The beauty and the tension in the film comes from the way director and screenwriter Lynne Ramsay juxtaposes the depressing reality with the joy the children can find in snatched moments, and in how she passes no judgement on any of the characters. We simply see them struggle with the hand they've been dealt, and find hope in their resilience.
Every character is searching for escape, and the film leaves it beautifully ambiguous about whether their Glasgow council estate will ever let them go.
The film follows James over the course of a Summer as he simply hangs out, and dreams of a better, brighter future.
The beauty and the tension in the film comes from the way director and screenwriter Lynne Ramsay juxtaposes the depressing reality with the joy the children can find in snatched moments, and in how she passes no judgement on any of the characters. We simply see them struggle with the hand they've been dealt, and find hope in their resilience.
Every character is searching for escape, and the film leaves it beautifully ambiguous about whether their Glasgow council estate will ever let them go.