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| Ratcatcher |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 93 m |
| Public Rating: 8.20 (5 votes) |
Director: Lynne Ramsey |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Drama |
Year: 1999 |
| Writer(s): Lynne Ramsey |
| Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov |
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If, lately, you've been feeling depressed and think your life sucks, I invite you to spend some time watching Lynne Ramsay's first feature film, Ratcatcher. Not that you'll feel any better (you'll feel much worse); you'll just be greatful for how much better your life now seems in comparison. James (as in all the best depressing movies about childhood that come from first-time filmmakers, played by a debuting unknown, William Eadie) lives in Glasgow slums in the 1970s; there's a garbageman's strike going on. This means that he and his buddies play in rat-infested piles of fetid trash. It only gets worse.
James is the kind of kid who, in America, would be labeled euphemistically an "at-risk" youth. It's summer vacation, so he isn't going to school. He doesn't have anything to do; forget summer camp, he doesn't even have a street corner to hang out on. Instead, he walks along the banks of a river (filthy, of course). His mom is hardly an influence in his life, and his dad, when not at work, sits in front of the tube, drinking beer and watching reruns of old rugby games. His best friend, Kenny (John Miller, another unknown; unfortunately, Kenny doesn't die and nobody gets to shout "You killed Kenny! You bastards!") collects rodents. His other best friend is the neighborhood slut, Anne Marie (played by director Ramsay's daughter); they are platonic friends.
As might be gathered from the above synopsis, Ratcatcher is a film almost entirely devoid of anything pleasant. Instead, it's relentlessly gripping and full of doom. Anybody watching this movie's inauspicious beginning (a boy, finally managing to sneak away from his mom, drowns accidentally in the river) knows that this will come to no good end. The new thing Ramsay has brought to this sub-genre of the art-house film is a hypnotic, dream-like sense; dialogue is sparse, and imagery is key. Otherwise, the movie superbly goes through all the usual steps of such a movie (show the lack of love, show the rough neighborhood kids, etc.). One element, however, is thoroughly outworn by now: I declare that it's officially no longer considered poignant and ironic to set scenes of domestic abuse and/or general violence to 60s pop music. That's just being a smart-ass.
One of the most incredibly depressing movies I've ever seen, Ratcatcher is difficult to wholeheartedly recommend. You will not enjoy it; nor, however, will you feel like you're doing time in a penal institution. It's an accomplished debut, a keenly observed look at an unpleasant life. You will be depressed and enriched.
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