162 Ratcatcher

[Martha]

Ratcatcher



In her breathtaking and assured debut feature, Lynne Ramsay creates a haunting evocation of a troubled Glasgow childhood. Set during Scotland's national garbage strike of the mid-1970s, Ratcatcher explores the experiences of a poor adolescent boy as he struggles to reconcile his dreams and his guilt with the abjection that surrounds him. Utilizing beautiful, elusive imagery, candid performances, and unexpected humor, Ramsay deftly contrasts urban decay with a rich interior landscape of hope and perseverance, resulting in a work at once raw and deeply poetic.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• On the Blu-ray: New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Lynne Ramsay and cinematographer Alwin Küchler, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• On the DVD: Digital transfer, enhanced for 16x9 televisions
• New interview with Ramsay (Blu-ray only)
• Audio interview from 2020 with Küchler (Blu-ray only)
• Three award-winning short films by Ramsay: Small Deaths (1995), Kill the Day (1996), and Gasman (1997)
• Interview with Ramsay from 2002
• Stills gallery (DVD only)
• Trailer (Blu-ray only)
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by film critic Girish Shambu and filmmaker Barry Jenkins (Blu-ray only)

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[swingo]

I found nothing but greatness in this film, a lot of people said that it was some sort of a Scottish' 400 blows and in a way it is.

Excellent acting and charachter development, extraordinary cinematography. It is certainly one of the best pictures I've seen in years.

care to comment, anyone?

Axel.

[chaddoli]

Yes I agree. I was completely blown away by this powerful film.

Lynne Ramsay is similar to David Gordon Green in a way, and this film makes an excellent companion to George Washington.

[javelin]

This was one of the films I saw during my first summer of real film appreciation (that is, when I made a concerted effort to see good films and engage them beyond a relationship of pure entertainment.) I love the way in which Ramsay combines pathos and whimsy, e.g. the flight of the mouse/the simplicity of a birthday present and harshness in response from others re: said birthday present. Moreover, the camera work is stunning - the opening alone (with the boy in the curtain) I could look at all day. The argument against the film that it loses focus and seems contrived at times is a valid one, but that ending (which reminds me so much of the endings of 8 1/2 and The Discreet Charm...) is really fantastic - definitely surreal but rooted in a bleak reality. A beautiful film, #87 on my all-time Top 100.

[Gregory]

Just thought I'd point out that the music that Ratcatcher shares with Badlands was not taken from an original score (as for example Delerue's Contempt score was used in Casino). Rather, it was from Carl Orff's Schulwerk from the 1920s, which in my opinion happens to be some of the richest music for children ever composed -- not the kind of thing one filmmaker should get to use and then have claim to from then on.
In the interview on the DVD, Ramsay explains that she decided to use an Orff piece, and when someone pointed out that some of the same pieces had been used in Badlands she said, well I happen to want to use it in my film; let people say what they will. As for specific scenes and dialogue Ramsay took from Malick, I'm not aware of this and would have to see some examples.
Edit: Not that anyone cares, but seeing this thread revived years later, I see that, once again, a post that I was responding to has disappeared. I think someone had criticized Ratcatcher for being a Malick rip-off down to every detail, including music.

[colinr0380]

Rather, it was from Carl Orff's Schulwerk from the 1920s, which in my opinion happens to be some of the richest music for children ever composed -- not the kind of thing one filmmaker should get to use and then have claim to from then on.

And of course Tony Scott used it in the Tarantino-scripted True Romance from 1993!

[Cosomatli]

i really liked ratcatcher, the ending was a bit of a disappointment but i loved the movie as a whole. In my opinion, theres nothing wrong in having influences or even whims, when trying to create a new piece. i think its even more pretencious to believe in originality these days.

i still like morvern callar a little better tho

[kevyip1]

The 3 short films on the DVD are also very good. One of them, Gasman is one of the best shorts I've ever seen. And Lynne Ramsey Jr, who appears in nearly all her mom's films, seems to be a talented child actress.

[The Narrator Returns]

Gary Oldman approved

[bottled spider]

This isn't a serious complaint, but it's odd that the Criterion subtitles translate 'hen' into 'sweetheart', 'half cut' into 'half drunk', 'aye' into 'yes', etc, instead of directly transcribing. None of those terms could possibly present difficulty.

Having neither liked nor disliked Morvern Callar, I was brought to Ratcatcher on the strength of Ramsay's excellent short Gasman, and by several favourable mentions given it in those Closet Picks and Top Tens on the Criterion page. Ratcatcher's too tough for me. Ramsay's no miserabilist -- she'd hardly make her film so beautiful, or include moments of respite if she were -- but this was too tough for my taste all the same. The inherent difficulty of watching some of this material isn't helped by the lack of structure. Narrative isn't necessarily important, but narrative does have the merit of pulling you in.

Like Arnold, she's a master of imagery. Those two are probably sick of being compared, but they do have visual power in common. The opening shot with the curtains is perfect.

[dda1996a]

Tough as in hard to watch or tough as it is poetic and lacking a clear trajectory? Going by your reaction to. Morvern I'll go with the second, which is why I love Ramsay (and Arnold, though while both are visually distinct female British directors, aren't remotely alike)

[bottled spider]

As in not into watching repeated gang rapes of minors etc.

[MichaelB]

This isn't a serious complaint, but it's odd that the Criterion subtitles translate 'hen' into 'sweetheart', 'half cut' into 'half drunk', 'aye' into 'yes', etc, instead of directly transcribing. None of those terms could possibly present difficulty.

You’d be surprised. When Arrow reissued the Stray Cat Rock films in the US, they had quite a few complaints about allegedly incomprehensible British slang in the subtitles - originally prepared under the assumption that it would be a UK-only release.

And you blithely say “none of those terms could possibly present difficulty”, but where subtitles differ from normal text is that you typically get a very short amount of time to process them - and so unfamiliar terms like “half cut” might well prove disproportionately problematic. I’d certainly wave it through if I was overseeing the disc for the UK market, but I’d seek a second opinion if the target audience was American.

(I quite often reinstate British slang terms into Indicator subtitles, working from a Sony-supplied source intended for US audiences - but Indicator is a UK-only label.)

[bottled spider]

I'll defer to your experience, but with the observation that 'half cut' is in current use in Canada at least, and that 'aye' is familiar to everyone from expressions such as "All in favour say 'aye'" even if it isn't used to indicate assent conversationally.

[CSM126]

I’ve never heard “hen” used for sweetheart or “half cut” used for anything, so a little transliteration seems helpful.

[Kirkinson]

I have also never heard 'hen' or 'half cut' outside of Scottish movies, so I'm grateful those were "translated" for Criterion's disc. I'm sure I'd get 'hen' from context if it was used multiple times, but 'half cut' might be harder (it's been a long time since I last watched this so I don't remember exactly how it comes up, or how often). I do remember thinking it was strange they felt the need to translate 'aye' and 'wee,' but I guess this thread is a good argument for why they didn't want to assume those words would be widely understood enough.

[swo17]

Blu-ray upgrade with new bonus features Oct 19

[Calvin]

I'm very happy to see this one upgraded - it was certainly near the top of my wishlist; I saw it on 35mm a couple of years ago and it was like seeing the film anew after having only previously watched it on DVD. Hopefully this new restoration comes close to that.

It's nice to see that it has had some new extras added as well, though I would have liked to have seen something with the cast.

[colinr0380]

As someone who just bought and put up their first ever net curtain recently, I can now fully sympathise with the mother giving the kid a clip around the ear for wrapping himself up in one like a shroud during the opening credits!

Interesting to see Barry Jenkins doing an essay, as some of the moments of magical realism in otherwise grounded stories seem quite similar. Particularly the trip around the half-built new housing estate before leaving through a window-hole to frolic through a, presumably destined to be concreted over for more housing, field that literalises a brief moment of transcendence above one's troubles.

[nitin]

Was only wondering earlier this year whether anyone might release this, Criterion coming through for what is really a gobsmacking film

[yoloswegmaster]

This isn't a serious complaint, but it's odd that the Criterion subtitles translate 'hen' into 'sweetheart', 'half cut' into 'half drunk', 'aye' into 'yes', etc, instead of directly transcribing. None of those terms could possibly present difficulty.

Someone has received the bluray early and they have confirmed that the subtitles have not been "Americanized" and have been directly transcribed.

[FrauBlucher]

beaver

[yoloswegmaster]

beaver

You're really messing up the puns here.

Looking at the screencaps, I'm not really seeing this "teal issue" that Gary is talking about. Can someone point it out to me?

[tenia]

I kind of see what he's talking about (to the extent of the notorious unfaithfulness of his caps), but I suspect it's down to doing A/B comparisons with a DVD that looked very dull and overly neutralised, hence why blues look teal-leaning (seemingly) in comparison. But if you just look at all those single BD caps at the bottom of the page, they pretty much seem alright.

[FrauBlucher]

beaver

You're really messing up the puns here.

Looking at the screencaps, I'm not really seeing this "teal issue" that Gary is talking about. Can someone point it out to me?

It's your puns that are the problem