|
RATCATCHER Send This Review to a Friend
A deeply touching slice of life film comes from the United Kingdom. Ratcatcher, written and directed by Lynne Ramsay and previously showcased at the New Directors/New Films 2000 series, observes the life of James (William Eadie), a 12-year-old boy in Glasgow and is set in the mid-1970s. He's a dreamer who longs for the time when his family can move to an improved flat. His neighborhood is rat-infested, the filth made worse by a garbage strike. His father is a boozer. Apart from anything else, James is haunted by an accident that claimed the life of a young friend in a local canal and he blames himself.
Through following the adventures of James, including his childlike nude trysts with a girl he knows, we get a glimpse of life of the downtrodden, as well as the fantasies with which James and the other boys fortify themselves. It takes imagination to tie a mouse to a balloon and let it rise under the impression it is going to the moon. James's life appears headed for tragedy one way or another, and Ramsay involves us to the point of hoping against hope that James will somehow survive and grow into a better life. This is an original, involving drama.
|