Ratcatcher

UK, France, 1999

Glasgow, summer of 1973. Dustmen are striking; bags of garbage add to the blight of council flats and a fetid canal. Ryan, who's about 12, drowns during a play fight with his neighbor, the jug-eared James. James runs home, a flat where he lives with his often-drunk father, his mother, and sisters, who live in hope of moving to newly-built council flats. The slice-of-life, coming-of-age story follows James as he tags along with the older lads; has a friendship with his quirky wee rodent-loving neighbor, Kenny; spends time with Margaret Anne, myopic, slightly older, the local sexual punching bag; and, has a moment or two of joy. The strike may end, but is there any way out for James?
Ramsay creates a bitter, precise and heartbreaking film about growing up. A terrible secret James holds inside makes him drift further and further away from his family, his friends and his childhood.

Fiction  | Video  |  94   Minutes  |  Color  |  English, Hebrew subtitles

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Screenplay: Lynne Ramsay
Cinematography: Alwin H. Kuchler
Editing: Lucia Zucchetti
Production: Gavin Emerson

› Back