The imagery in Lynne Ramsay’s feature debut comes at right angles to the story, pulling you up and away from the morbid tale of murderous Glasgow poverty. Like other directors who’ve made the transition from poetic shorts to more conventional features (Jane Campion, Under the Skin’s Carine Adler), Ramsay sprinkles her narrative with arty tableaux which sometimes derail the story — you can get away with such indulgences in a short, but the full-length format is less forgiving. Still, sometimes it’s a relief to be given a chance to breathe, as Ratcatcher’s plot is unremittingly bleak. Beginning with 12-year-old James (William Eadie) accidentally drowning another boy in a waste-clogged canal, the film is set during a garbage strike; filth piles up literally in the streets as it does metaphorically in the characters’ lives. We clutch at the few moments of hope like drowners clinging to driftwood — a half-smile or a moment of kindness seem like epiphanies. While it doesn’t have sophistication to match its visuals, Ratcatcher builds to a profound truth: that life can only be lived once we’ve confronted death.
`Got a small, one topping pizza from them today. $13, which I think is a lot for a 12 inch pizza on South Street. It was pretty good. Can't say I would ` »
`Delicious baked goods, but SLOW and horrible service. Most people who work there seem confused and there is no coordination between workers. At peak ` »
`Ben H is not stylish, he looks at the pages of
urban outfitters. That is not style, that is just
being another hipster. He is a wanna-be, fake, and ` »
`Please, not another sob story about someone in prison who 'Made a mistake'. Why not do a tale about a soldier in Iraq? No problem gettin' him to call ` »
`If I bagged all the leaves that my trees produce (and those my neighbor's trees send our way), it would be hard to estimate how many bags that would be. ` »
`I agree with David G as well. But as to Emynona's comment - by boycotting SEPTA, we don't show the strikers anything. All we do is hurt SEPTA more, which ` »
