Ratcatcher (1999, UK)

Ratcatcher
Director
Lynne Ramsey
Cast
William Eadie (James), Tommy Flanagan (Da), Mandy Matthews (Ma), Leanne Mullen (Margaret Anne)
Screenplay
Lynne Ramsey
Format
Live action, drama
Language
English
Running time
93 minutes
Classification
15
Distributor
Pathe
Genre
Drama
Setting
Glasgow, the early 1970s
Main characters
James, Margaret Anne
Narrative focus
James

Synopsis

Ratcatcher is set in a depressed part of Glasgow in the 1970s during the 'Winter of Discontent', when a strike by dustbin collectors meant refuse remained uncollected for weeks. The streets are full of litter and piles of filled bin bags. James Gillespie is a twelve-year-old who witnesses the accidental death of a local boy but never lets anyone know this. He yearns to move out of the area to a new development of houses in the countryside that he has discovered. He befriends a fourteen-year-old girl, Margaret Anne, and together they experience their emerging sense of sexuality. Around this core storyline we watch the lives of James's impoverished family and the children on a deprived housing estate.

Background

Ratcatcher is considered one of the best British feature film debuts for many years. This was her first feature film. Her second feature, Morvern Callar, was released in 2002. The film follows a strong British realist tradition of filmmaking, exemplified in the films of Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Alan Clarke and John Grierson. Ratcatcher powerfully captures a sense of place and a segment of society with a muted but effectively told personal story about growing up. It combines an ordinary 'real-life' feel with more elaborately designed sequences that reveal the feelings of the main character, James. The film has Scottish connection with two films made by director Bill Douglas in the early 1970s: My Childhood (1972) and My Ain Folk (1973), both of which concentrate on the life of a young boy in a rural Scottish mining village of impoverished means.

Commentary

This film addresses the impact of poverty on families and dramatising the process of growing up in these circumstances. The overwhelming naturalistic feeling of the film is occasionally contrasted with key fantasy sequences that allow the characters to step out of their reality, such as James's first run through the cornfield and the sequence of Snowball the rat in space.

The film music, though not used much, is usually plaintive and Celtic, helping place the film in its Scottish location. Some source music is also used, particularly to enhance the audience's feelings about the children, contrasting with and intensify emotion. For example, when James's dad returns home, bleeding from a stab wound, the tune 'Lollipop' is playing on the record player, and accentuates the unhappiness of situation. When James goes out to the countryside the music is upbeat. As he sits on the bus he looks down and sees the rubbish and, in slow motion, the girl who he later befriends.

The film is not obviously entertaining, spectacular or fast moving. Nor is it concerned with any kind of novel or incredible accomplishment. It is, however, a highly cinematic film that uses the format to create an atmosphere of muted ambition.

Also recommended

Kes (1972, UK, Ken Loach) is a classic British film about growing up, based on Barry Hines's novel of the same name.

The Secret of Roan Inish (UK, 1994, John Sayles), set on coastal Ireland in the 1930s, is about a young girl returning to and discovering the secret of her family home, sympathetically and unsentimentally told through the young girl's eyes.

Teaching suggestions (Key Stage 4, age 14-16)

Citizenship focus

  • The legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society
  • The origins and implications of diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK
  • The rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees.

Subject link

Geography: A city in the UK

History: Britain in the 1970s: industrial unrest

Spot the shots

Watch the scene where James climbs out of the window and runs into the wheat field.

  • How does the colour and lighting add to your understanding of James' character and situation?
  • What do you notice about the camera framing and camera movement?

Watch the scene where James returns to the house in the country.

  • What is different about the way the scene is filmed and what effect does this have on you?

Sound and image

Watch the sequence where James's father is beaten up and staggers home with the sound down.

  • Does the close up image of the ice-cream cone suggest to you?
  • Why have the filmmakers used this shot to edit out the details of the violence on screen?
  • What impact does it have on you?
  • What is the effect of this scene on you?

Now watch the sequence again with the sound up:

  • What does the music add to the effect of the scene on you?

Watch the closing sequence of the film with the sound turned down. Discuss:

  • How are the two different endings contrasted?
  • What do you think the ending of the film means?

Now watch the closing sequence with the sound. Discuss:

  • What kind of music is used?
  • What sound effects can you hear?
  • How does the soundtrack affect your understanding of the film's ending and James's future?
  • What is your interpretation of James' future?

Discussion

The following questions can be used as a starting point to focus discussion before generalising the issues that the film raises.

  • Where and when is the film set?
  • Why has the rubbish not been collected for nine weeks?
  • What effect does this have on James' family's living conditions?
  • Why are shoes, stockings and football boots significant in the film?
  • Why is the canal significant in the film?
  • Describe the lighting of the scenes filmed on the housing estate in the town.
  • Describe the lighting of the scenes filmed on the housing estate in the country.
  • Why does James want to move to the house in the country?
  • What else do you think the house in the country represents?
  • Which scenes in the film do you think are 'dream sequences'?
  • How are fantasy and reality contrasted in the story of Snowball?
  • How are fantasy and reality contrasted in the film's ending?
  • Why do you think that the film is called Ratcatcher?
  • Do you think Ratcatcher is an optimistic or pessimistic film? Explain why.

Practical production work

Students could storyboard two scenes for a film about the local community. One scene should be shot in a realistic style and the other should be a fantasy sequence. Students should be encouraged to consider the different effect that a 'realistic' camera style and narrative has on conveying the message to the audience. They could compare this with the more 'fantastic' style and storyline and discuss the way each style effects the nature of any political message that they might want to convey.

You may like to use one of our sample storyboards (PDF) for this exercise.

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 06-Feb-2008 15:14:15 GMT