Ratcatcher - Criterion Collection
by Lynne Ramsay
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lynne Ramsay Jr., Mandy Matthews, Michelle Stewart, Tommy Flanagan, William EadieDirector: Lynne Ramsay
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-10
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Ratcatcher - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Grim, But Music and Dance Do Provide Some Relief
Summary: 3 Stars
"Ratcatcher," the Scottish director Lynn Ramsey's 1999 debut film, comes trailing black clouds behind, described as a grim and disturbing coming of age picture. There's truth to that. It's set in a Glasgow slum, a down-at-heels project, or council estate as they'd call it, that's way too close to a fetid, apparently no-longer-used canal: one of the children central to the plot calls it "creepy," and that'll certainly do as a description.
The film is a Franco-British co-production. It won eleven awards. It's slow-paced, but does show the existence of innocence in dreary, gritty poverty. Ramsey wrote, as well as directed it, and it does have a social-realist agenda. It centers, in a leisurely way, on one particular family, that of James, who appears to be teetering on the brink of adolescence, during the summer of the nationwide Scottish garbagemen's (or dustmen's, as they'd call it) strike of 1973. The streets are garbage-strewn, and black garbage bags pile up menacingly, attracting vermin. The plot, set among the city's white, native-born proletariat -- their Scottish accents are so strong that the American version comes with needed subtitles, isn't exactly cheerful, either. It's true tartan noir, but it does show that life goes on as it follows several of the project's children closely.
These children are neglected, bored, without recreational outlets, and are crueler to themselves, each other, and the animals in their world than some of us might wish: then again, they reflect their upbringings, don't they?
But there are some lighter moments, some of that bloody-minded humor that leavens Scottish life. Characters hope for better futures, and show each other the odd tenderness. There's a black and white, film school sequence, apparently meant to be comic, of mice on the moon. Finally, music and dance provide much-needed relief, just as they do in real life. James and his sisters watch a video of the sexy Welsh singing star of the 1960s, Tom Jones, singing "Pussycat, Pussycat." Later, the children joyfully dance with their mother, an abused housewife, to the Chordettes'1960's American bubblegum hit "Lollipop, Lollipop." And for those moments, their troubles are forgotten.
Summary of Ratcatcher - Criterion Collection
In her breathtaking and assured debut feature, Lynne Ramsay creates a haunting evocation of a troubled Glasgow childhood. Set during Scotland's national garbage strike of the mid-1970s, Ratcatcher explores the experiences of a poor adolescent boy as he struggles to reconcile his dreams and his guilt with the abjection that surrounds him. Utilizing beautiful, elusive imagery, candid performances, and unexpected humor, Ratcatcher deftly examines the landscape of urban decay and a rich interior landscape of hope and perseverance, resulting in a work at once raw and deeply poetic.Brutality and hope intertwine in this quiet coming-of-age story. Set in a Glasgow, Scotland, slum during a 1973 trash collectors' strike, the film follows young James, shaken after accidentally causing the death of a friend, who dreams of moving into newly built council flats. The loosely plotted slice-of-life piece moves between James's family and his friendship with Kenny, a slightly off animal fancier, and the older Margaret Anne. Though the setting is grim, the movie is far from bleak. Even as the trash bags pile up, James takes comfort in something as simple as being combed for head lice. The cast is excellent, and writer-director Lynne Ramsay coaxes astonishingly good performances out of her child actors. Complex and haunting, Ratcatcher holds a silent wish at its center. The DVD includes an interview with Ramsay, and three of her short films. --Ali Davis
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