Review of Ratcatcher (1999) by Grant P — 10 Aug 2008

Ratcatcher is the ultimate triumph of style and substance. It also is the definitive statement within its realm of focus. Other films conducted about poverty can only trail behind Ratcatcher's inevitable successes, primarily character development and directoral modesty. (I'd say it's at least two steps above Gummo and one above Tideland).

What sets the film apart from others is its use of still-frame photography. In the opening scene director Lynne Ramsay experiments with stop motion as Ryan spins draped in a curtain. It's an interesting image especially because it's difficult to distinguish what it is. There are a few other moments in which she uses this technique to signify a specific image rather than a scene.

It's been noted that Ratcatcher has a poetic yet raw feeling to it. I agree. Ramsay does not hold back the camera for fear of audience retaliation; her honesty is sometimes harsh but is greatly needed in a film about the impoverished during the garbage strike in Glasgow 1973. There isn't a moment in the film that feels pretentious; every scene is skillfully underplayed. Gummo and Tideland are often overplayed and each have narration, and Ratcatcher does not; perhaps these are its strengths - to let the images speak for themselves. A work of art, surely.