freemantle_uk 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.

prashin007 i saw this film last night on criterion and couldn't help but notice it's curious similarities with David Gordon green's highly inventive but slightly over-rated "george Washington". Terrence Alick has indeed casted a very long shadow on today's young film-makers. the key for them is to, like Terrence Malick, devoid their films of intellectual and emotional pornography. similar to works of Terrence Alick and other 70's filmmakers in general, this film is just another one of the films that are adding on resurgence of 70's type personal cinema (and my favorite type at that, the slow and lyrical films devoid of over-bearing plot). i think Lynne Ramsay has been in some ways been unfairly overlooked by critics. but she is going to go far, you can just tell with some people. for those who liked this might wanna check out: anything by Terrence Malick, David Gordon green, Kim Ki-duk, Errol morris, Hans Petter Moland, "the return" by Andrei Zvyagintsev and classic McCabe and Mrs. miller.i'm sure i'm missing a lot of names but these film explore in someways similar narrative style.

shneur This is a powerful movie about a boy who is relentlessly ground down by the oppressive circumstances of his life. Poverty, neglect and rejection are his personal environment, set within a larger picture of crumbling social structures and economic chaos. Other characters do reach out to him in various ways, including sexual, but their overtures, as mostly everyone's, are rooted in their own needs. The protagonist has learned from hard experience to be suspicious of the self-involved people around him, so he's unable to respond to any of these "half a loaf" offers. Even the fact that this is a movie IN English that requires English SUBTITLES contributes to the sense of alienation. This film is drama, not entertainment. Of course I can't tell you about the ending, but I will say that I had to rewind the tape and watch it again just to make sure I had really seen what I'd seen. I won't soon forget "Ratcatcher."

Theo Robertson 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