Figure 1.--Here is James with his friend Kenny and Kenny's pet mouse. The jackets they wear are a good reflection if jackets worn by Scottish boys in the 1970s. |
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A Scottish reader writes, "Another film that you should probably include in your list of scottish films--"Ratcatcher". It is another film influenced by Bill Douglas' trilogy. It displays boys in Glasgow during the 1970s: "bomber" jackets or parka-type coats, proper buttton-up shirts ( t-shirts were sloppy, unless worn as vests under the shirt), jeans and short hair. Jersey's were for Mummies-boys - but it was good to have a warm coat - with fur and a hood - especially if you'd given your hair the wet-look and then it turned out freezing. I think the costuming was very accurate for the time. One odd thing - in The Guardian review it mention's James being made to wear his dead friend's Clarkes sandals. [Poetry] I recall those sandals - but not for a 12-year old if he wanted to avoid a roasting from his pals (in Edinburgh maybe, but not Glasgow). Maybe I missed out on this, or the other boys mum was trying to spruce him up. Not all Scottish films are so drear - some just show another side of life - and, for HBC's purposes, do record changing fashion."
A Scottish reader writes, "Another filmt hat you should probably include in your list of scottish films--"Ratcatcher". It is another film influenced by Bill Douglas'
trilogy." This was Lynne Ramsay's first film, both writing and directing it..
The main character is 12-year old James, beautifully played by William Eadie. James's parents are played by Tommy Flanagan and Mandy Matthews, both of who give nuanced performances. Another excellent performance is Kenny, Jamnes's friend, played by John Miller. Kenny is an unhappy boy whose best friend is a timid little white mouse--a sharp contrast to the huge black rats swarming over the garbage. THe children in the film were not professional actors. Ramsay selected them from 1,500 Glasgow school children, except Anne Marie Gillespie who was played by Ramsay's niece, Lynne Ramsay Jr.
The film is set in the Glasgow tenements during the 1970s garbage strike. The shooting took place during summer 1998. The point of view is that of a child--the main character Jamie. One reviewer describes " ... a gentle humanity amid the impacts and abrasions of the inner-city existence it portrays." [Poetry] Amid all this ugliness are many almost poetic shots.
Jamie playing around pushed a friend in a canal and watches him drown. He is haunted by the whole episode. As a result of a garbage strike, black rubbish bags pile up in the streets causing an epidemic of rats. James and other boys are intrigued by the rats.
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The Guardian reviewer mentions clothing, "... James is made to wear the dead boy's new Clark's sandals by the grieving mother, there is another shot, held with confidence, of James scuffing his awful new memento mori shoes against broken glass in the stairwell: stupefied by feel and sound." A Scotting reader writes, " It displays boys in Glasgow during the 1970s: "bomber" jackets or parka-type coats, proper buttton-up shirts ( t-shirts were sloppy, unless worn as vests under the shirt), jeans and short hair. Jersey's were for Mummies-boys - but it was good to have a warm coat - with fur and a hood - especially if you'd given your hair the wet-look and then it turned out freezing. I think the costuming was very accurate for the time. One odd thing - in The Guardian review it mention's James being made to wear his dead friend's Clarkes sandals. [Poetry] I recall those sandals - but not for a 12-year old if he wanted to avoid a roasting from his pals (in Edinburgh maybe, but not Glasgow). Maybe I missed out on this, or the other boys mum was trying to spruce him up. Not all Scottish films are so drear - some just show another side of life - and, for HBC's purposes, do record changing fashion." Another reader writes, "The costume the boys wear in the film is not that different to what they would wear anyway - 1973 Glasgow and 1998 Glasgow clothes are similar - that's 25 years on - but if you compare the clothes 25 years before "Ratcatcher" is set - 1948 around when when The Bill Douglas Trilogy is set there's a big difference."
A Scottish reader writes, "One of the important reviews of "Ratcatcher" compares it to other films about lonely childhoods: "Kes", The Bill Douglas Trilogy, and "My Life As A Dog". A Guardian review by Phillip French stated, "He killed a boy, and the binmen are on strike - life
really stinks". Funny how these "reality" films all show boys losing their pets - the canary in Douglas, the Kestral in "Kes", the mouse in "Ratcatcher" - as well as Ingemar being worried about the dog in space in "My Life as a Dog " whereas in the "feelgood" films Lassie always comes home to rescue the boy. Sad really."
Sources
"Poetry from the rubbish tip," Guardian (November 12, 1999).
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