DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay
PRODUCER: Gavin Emerson
PRODUCTION CO: Pathé Pictures, BBC Films
SCREENPLAY: Lynne Ramsay
PHOTOGRAPHY: Alwin H Küchler
EDITOR: Lucia Zucchetti
MUSIC: Rachel Portman
WITH: William Eadie (James Gillespie), Tommy Flanagan (George Gillespie), Mandy Matthews (Anne Gillespie), Michelle Stewart (Ellen Gillespie), Lynne Ramsay Jr (Anne Marie Gillespie), Leanne Mullen (Margaret Anne)

FESTIVALS: Cannes

REVIEW

“The evocative debut feature of acclaimed Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay is a lyrical portrait of growing up poor and a hushed, haunting meditation on trauma. Set in and around a squalid tenement block during a garbage strike in Glasgow in the mid-1970s, Ratcatcher centres on a solemn 12-year-old boy (William Eadie) tormented by his role in the accidental death of a friend by drowning. When the body is found, he says nothing of his involvement. Withdrawing from his family and into himself, he finds unexpected solace in the tender companionship of an outcast girl, abused by neighbourhood ruffians. Writer-director Ramsay, a photographer and maker of award-winning shorts, crafts a sobering work of British urban realism that, despite its kitchen-sink trappings, possesses astonishing moments of pure visual poetry and a bold willingness to portray the inner life of its child protagonist. A brilliant and distinctive first feature.”

– The Cinematheque

“Astonishingly assured… Ramsay’s bold visual sense, droll wit and tender but unsentimental take on the various characters and their relationships makes for a distinctly poetic brand of gritty realism, and one of the most impressive first features by a British director in some years.”

– Geoff Andrew, Time Out

“Brilliant… A gorgeous blend of beauty and squalor, packed with imagery that will play over and over in your head for weeks… Ratcatcher is the most lovely debut in a long time.”

– Elvis Mitchell, New York Times 
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FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Timaru  
Tuesday, 24 February, 6.30pm​

Palmerston North  
Wednesday, 25 March, 6.00pm​

​Nelson  
Wednesday, 29 April, 6.00pm​

New Plymouth  
Wednesday, 15 July, 6.00pm​

​Westport  
Wednesday, 12 August, 7.00pm​

​Whanganui    
Monday, 24 August, 7.00pm

Canterbury  
Monday, 14 September, 7.00pm​

​Wellington    
Monday, 28 September, 6.00pm

Wellington    
Monday, 28 September, 8.30pm

​Auckland   
Monday, 05 October, 6.15pm 

​Carterton  
Friday, 11 December, 7.30pm​
RETRO CLASSICS >>