james jumping out the window of the unfinished house into the endless golden field is one of my favorite moments of cinema – my eyes have welled up both times i’ve watched it. it is a bittersweet moment. to get to see a character that has been surrounded by coldness & filth be overtaken by warm tones. to watch him dive into it as if it was the canal he has known his whole life. a new place that feels untouched by humanity. unharmed & safe. it is a moment where you feel his imagination open up; all of a sudden life has new possibilities, embodying a dream. for a minute, it all seems within reach. there is a way out. the door is unlocked, and it is his to delve into.
"Well, these conditions speak for themselves. You can't possibly deny that there is a very considerable health risk under which many of the good people of Glasgow are at present living. There's a risk in the form of decomposition of this material, a risk of fire, a risk of it being spread by rats, which are notorious vectors of disease."It's difficult for me to write about my very, very favorite films - and this is most certainly one of them - but I'll try.Ratcatcher is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and here's why (did not intend for the previous two sentences to rhyme):1. The first scene of the boy spinning in the curtain perfectly encapsulates the beauty, misery, and claustrophobia of characters' living situation in Glasgow. It's one of the most telling opening scenes I've come across in a film.*SLIGHT SPOILERS, BUT ONLY FOR SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS EXTREMELY EARLY IN THE FILM*2. The voyeuristic shot, as Ryan Quinn first arrives at the bank, seems to speak toward society's indirect responsibility for the death of this poor child.*END OF SPOILERS*3. Ratcatcher is almost like crossing the gorgeous works of Andrei Tarkovsky with the gritty realism of the Dardennes; in other words, it's right up my alley.4. It contains some of the best (or at least some of the most resonant) use of slow motion in a film.5. It contains moments of incredible power, especially when the score decides to chime in - one of the finest, yet most simplistic scores that my ears have ever had the pleasure of hearing.6. This film is probably one of the sharpest contrasts of stunning visuals, with a thoroughly ugly story, locations, atmosphere, etc.7. Ramsay really tries to touch on as many possible social issues as she can, but does this so subtly that it never seems obvious.8. The dialogue and the actions of the children truly display the effect and influence that their parents have on them.9. As usual with Ramsay's films, the way that the shots are framed is absolutely astonishing.10. Rarely does child acting reach this level of sophistication.11. James' first visit to the golden field is, quite simply, an utterly flawless minute of cinema. My eyes welled up, to say the least.12. As much as I love Badlands, this film contains my personal favorite use of Carl Orff's Gassenhauer.13. Like in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, another one of my favorite films, Ratcatcher is for people who know what it is like to be stuck in a town from which they desperately want to escape, but can't.Final verdict: one of my fifteen favorite films of all-time.
