Lynne Ramsay is able to capture real moments between people. A big challenge when creating a film is to show character through action and not dialogue. In her first feature, Ratcatcher, she presents stunningly beautiful images that reveal the lives of people surrounding a boy in Glasgow in the 1970s. The film slowly reveals itself to us with crisp sound and disturbing scenes of the decaying conditions during a garbage strike. It’s dark, but beautiful and haunting. It sticks with you and you feel that you’ve really spent time somewhere else. Not a film for those who like tightly plotted, dialogue-driven films, but for those who like poetic, comtemplative works that suggest meaning and don’t impose it.
I rented the Criterion DVD and it also includes three short films by Ramsay: Small Deaths, Kill the Day, and Gasman that establish the look and tone that continues through her other films. Evocative work that is driven by emotion and ellipsis.
technorati tags: film, review, ratcatcher
