
Lynne Ramsey's bleak beautifully photographed debut unflinchingly portrays life in a Glasgow housing project during the 1973 garbageworkers strike as seen through the eyes of 12-year-old James Gillespie (William Eadie in a soulful debut) As the film opens James is playing with a friend near a filthy canal behind the projects when his friend tragically falls into the water & drowns James chooses not to tell anyone that he saw the boy die knowing that he will be implicated This secret along with his increasing lack of communication with his drunken football-loving father causes James to become increasingly withdrawn fantasizing about his family moving to a newly constructed apartment complex at the city limits on the edge of a beautiful golden field of grain As the garbage piles up & rats take up residency around the complex as if they were new tenants James finds temporary solace in his friendships with Kenny an odd boy who loves animals & Margaret Anne a teenage misfit who lets the local boys use her body as they wish While undeniably grim RATCATCHER manages to combine unusually rich imagery & spare use of dialogue to create a realistic portrait of a simultaneously beautiful & cruel world Punctuated with unexpected humor Ramsey's film is subtle & rewarding