Ratcatcher is the first feature-length film by British female director Lynn Ramsay. Since being released in 1999, it has won lots of awards at various film festivals, because of not only the delicacy of its shooting but also its profound reflection on British society in the 1970s.

Fig 1 The death of James' friend 0:06:33

This contemporary film’s realistic focus on the working class inherits the spirit of social realism in the British New Wave in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, on the one hand, the British economy was devastated by the war, the middle class was weakened and the working class appealed to a fair and stable social environment (Winson, 2013, p. 22). On the other hand, the success of the Soviet Union has raised people’s doubts about the capitalist system. Hence, the image of the “angry young men” began to appear in literature and film, usually showing the discontent of the working class with class society (Luo, 2019, p. 24). The films of this period are known as British New Wave and social realism, or working-class realism from the content, poetic realism from style.

Furthermore, the Labor party, which represented the interest of the working class, began to dominate in parliament, and strongly promoted nationalization and welfare policies. However, after some degree of economic recovery, the defects of the welfare system unveiled gradually and led to stagflation (Winson, 2013, pp. 5-6). Until 1975, Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative party came to power and advocated neoliberalism, cutting welfare spending, and encouraging market competition (Scott-Samuel et al, 2014, p. 54). The British economy was boosted but also brought a widening of the class division and the decline in the living quality of the working class. Therefore, in the 1980s, British social realism was revived and lots of films focusing on the working class appeared again (Shafer, 2001, p. 9). The story of Ratcatcher happens in 1973 and reflects the life of the working class at the end of the welfare society, many of the details in the film are closely related to the social background at that time.

l Laborers and Rats

Rats is perhaps a metaphor for laborers. The welfare system provides enough living security and seriously discourages the laborers’ enthusiasm for work. The traditional virtue of labor is replaced by the lazy pleasure of consumerism (Zhang & Lin, 2018, p. 40). In the film, James’ father is a representative of the working class, sleeps all day instead of working, indulges in TV, beer, and football. His only wish is for the committee to allocate a new house.

Fig 2 James' father is watching TV 0:19:24

Moreover, any attempt to reduce welfare will cause public discontent, like this cleaning workers’ strike. The garbage in the streets and the television news reports all hint at this situation.

Fig 3 The report on the strike 0:12:47

Under this circumstance, tax revenue falls but welfare spending stays high. The government is in a passive position and the national economy is in a downturn. The working class does not create social value but lives in the burrow of the welfare system like the rat. The strike in the film leads to a chaotic community where rats live with people, implying they are homogenous, dirty, poor, and living at the bottom. The ratcatcher is referring to the coming Thatcher reforms, to the abolition of the welfare state and the elimination of the welfare-dependent working class. At the end of the film, the army, representing the government, is deployed to clean up rats and rubbish, while residents shout abuse upstairs.

Fig 4 The army is cleaning up the rats 1:20:02

l Males and Soccer

As a female director, Ramsay pays deep attention to gender identity. The identity of the male is lost at that time. When livelihoods depend on welfare, the role of men as the source of income is weakened. By contrast, when the center of life moves from society, the public sphere, to family, the private sphere, consumerism overwhelms the culture of the working-class, the status of the female is promoted (Zhang & Lin, 2018, p. 40). Therefore, for the male, on the one hand, they feel a sense of marginalization in this loss of identity, so they try to acquire a sense of self-satisfaction through a kind of arbitrary, which includes contempt for the female and arrogance towards their juniors, such as James’ father slaps his wife when drunk or the teenagers humiliate Margaret and tease James and Kenny.

Fig 5 The teenagers are teasing James 0:31:44

On the other hand, soccer, as a sport that relies on unity and physical strength, becomes the last symbol of working-class culture, and the spiritual sustenance of the male. In the film, boys play soccer in the street, James’ father persistently gives James a pair of soccer shoes as a gift, and even the teenagers throw Kenny’s mouse back and forth like soccer.

Fig 6 The teenagers are teasing mouse 0:50:00

l Children and Water

In the Ratcatcher, children may be more like “angry young men”. The story is narrated from the perspective of James, a child. Compared with the frustration of adults, children’s psychological activities are more complicated. Vitality is a child’s nature, which is suppressed by a negative social atmosphere. The desire of young men to break through the social hierarchy by working hard is limited by a lazy welfare system, like carrying the death of a friend.

Fig 7 James suicides in the canal 1:27:55

Water is perhaps a metaphor for the welfare system. Water can either support life or deprive it. The bathtub full of water brings James happiness, but the endless sewage in the canal drowns his friend like an overdose of welfare, which is gently but fatal, so neither James nor his friend struggles in the canal.

Fig 8 James and Margaret play in the bath 0:59:57

Therefore, children are the only ones having hopes for the future, because the future is an escape from reality, which is the origin of the poetic element. The suburban house for James and the moon for Kenny, are all the places with poetic background music, and without water.

Fig 9 No water in suburb house 0:40:51

Furthermore, under this repression, children are eager to grow up and have a voice, so they imitate the elders. James tried to join the teenagers and control his sisters. Whereas, when the suburban house is locked and Margaret is still humiliated by the teenagers, James realizes his helplessness and gives up and suicides in the canal. But for Kenny, after being rescued from the canal, he joins the camp of ratcatcher.

Fig 10 Kenny is catching rats 1:24:25

Ratcatcher is a calm and slow film. What Ramsay expresses is not simple criticism of Thatcherism or sympathy on the working-class, but the two-sidedness of policies and their great impact on the public. After two decades of Thatcher's policies, it is worth wondering what Britain is and about to face.

Word Count: 1080

（excluding 84 words on remarks of figures）

l Reference List (APA)

Calderwood, A. (Producer). Ramsay, L. (Screenwriter/ Director). (1999). Ratcatcher [Motion Picture]. Britain: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Luo, X. (2019). 論英國(guó)新浪潮電影的“廚房水槽”現(xiàn)實(shí)主義美學(xué)特征 [the Realistic Aesthetic Characteristics of "Kitchen Sink" in British New Wave Films]. Journal of Guizhou University (Art Edition), 33(2), 22-26. doi: 10.15958/j.cnki.gdxbysb.2019.02.004

Scott-Samuel, A., Bambra, C., Collins, C., Hunter, D. J., McCartney, G., & Smith, K. (2014). The impact of Thatcherism on health and well-being in Britain. International Journal of Health Services, 44(1), 53-71. Retrieved from JSTOR Journals. Retrieved from //www.jstor.org/stable/45140692

Shafer, S. C. (2001). An overview of the working class in British feature film from the 1960s to the 1980s: from class consciousness to marginalization. International Labor and Working-Class History. (59), 3-14. Retrieved from JSTOR Journals. Retrieved from //www.jstor.org/stable/27672706

Winson, A. (2013). Social realism of British New Wava “Left” films: The working-class border character. (Master’s Thesis) Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database.

Zhang, J., & Lin X. (2018). 20世紀(jì)八九十年代英國(guó)工人階級(jí)電影特征 [The characteristics of working class in British working class films in the 1980s and 1990s]. Movie Literature, (10), 39-41. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0495-5692.2018.10.013

這是一部非常耐看的電影，我也是看了三四遍才逐漸發(fā)現(xiàn)其中的魅力。這部電影非常赤裸地展示了琳恩曾經(jīng)作為攝影師的扎實(shí)功底，大部分的場(chǎng)景都將運(yùn)動(dòng)的畫(huà)面呈現(xiàn)出類(lèi)似靜止的狀態(tài)，這就巧妙地通過(guò)對(duì)時(shí)間的攫取來(lái)使某個(gè)瞬間得以延長(zhǎng)，這種近乎靜止的時(shí)刻就非常容易讓人們把握事物的存在，哪怕是暫時(shí)的。比如影片的最后James的笑容仿佛被定格在麥田中央，讓人們能夠抓住那一刻James“愿望實(shí)現(xiàn)”的幸福感。同時(shí)這種類(lèi)似攝影的拍攝手法還能改變影片的敘事速率，從而帶來(lái)一種創(chuàng)傷性重復(fù)的狀況，那些近乎靜止的場(chǎng)景就是在反映影片敘事中創(chuàng)傷反復(fù)中的暫時(shí)中斷感。簡(jiǎn)單來(lái)說(shuō)，James作為一個(gè)孩子，在瑞恩死了以后會(huì)一直處在負(fù)罪感之中，而這些幾乎靜止的畫(huà)面就好比一個(gè)休息站、庇護(hù)所，讓他能喘口氣或是感受其他美好的情感，我覺(jué)得這種以拍攝手法的不同來(lái)切換敘事速率，從而給觀(guān)眾帶來(lái)不同情感體驗(yàn)的方式真的非常巧妙。比如34:20這里James趴在Margaret-Ann身上的俯拍鏡頭，畫(huà)面和人物都近乎靜止，但總能感受到畫(huà)面中散發(fā)的不摻雜質(zhì)的單純的幸福感，這大概就是James所渴望的庇護(hù)所吧，平靜而舒心；42:23這個(gè)James站在麥田中央的中景鏡頭，滿(mǎn)屏的暖色調(diào)溢出James來(lái)到夢(mèng)幻之地的放松與舒心…這些不僅是James的休息站，也能讓觀(guān)眾從壓抑的情緒中得以喘息。雖然畫(huà)面給人以靜止的感覺(jué)，但里面的情感確實(shí)交織涌動(dòng)，讓人扎身于其中，隨其波動(dòng)。

#BFI# #BigsScreenClassics# 現(xiàn)實(shí)主義作品，帶有肯洛奇的風(fēng)格，與《小孩與鷹》一樣，以英國(guó)底層小孩的眼睛看這個(gè)全英范圍內(nèi)的大罷工，再看這個(gè)社會(huì)。

本片在開(kāi)場(chǎng)就展現(xiàn)給觀(guān)眾了一場(chǎng)慘劇，讓觀(guān)眾與小男主一樣參與到了這次意外中，弱肉強(qiáng)食的社會(huì)中，誰(shuí)有確定自己是那捕鼠人，而不是只老鼠，片中老鼠似乎就象征著小男主自己，垃圾在城市之中堆積，大量的工程停擺，老鼠在大量繁殖，那條承載了大量悲傷的河又一次送葬了一條生命，與開(kāi)始呼應(yīng)。

視覺(jué)上，構(gòu)圖和運(yùn)鏡非常棒，尤其是構(gòu)圖，畫(huà)面分割，大量的前景遮擋，都讓同樣知道秘密的觀(guān)眾從視覺(jué)上體會(huì)到那種空間被大量壓縮的窒息感。特寫(xiě)升格很大程度的放大了情緒。

聽(tīng)覺(jué)上，很多時(shí)候配樂(lè)還是偏歡快的，帶有“青春成長(zhǎng)”的節(jié)奏感，當(dāng)然對(duì)于悲劇的烘托使用的耳鳴也很不錯(cuò)，讓觀(guān)眾把注意力都集中在畫(huà)面上。

不太喜歡超現(xiàn)實(shí)表達(dá)的部分，無(wú)論是小白鼠的升空和結(jié)尾處的處理，逃避現(xiàn)實(shí)的殘酷再以超現(xiàn)實(shí)展現(xiàn)的笑容始終不如現(xiàn)實(shí)來(lái)的更有沖擊力。

以寫(xiě)實(shí)的手法刻畫(huà)： 孤獨(dú)、壓抑、敏感的少年內(nèi)心世界， 成長(zhǎng)的自我。 更何況還有恐懼和內(nèi)疚， 只好將好像永遠(yuǎn)消耗不完的精力發(fā)泄在荒誕與暴力。 他們既是捕鼠者，也是被捕的鼠。 有著自己的生活，自己的個(gè)性，自己的境遇的父輩們， 他們也有他們的程度，也有他們的難處， 成長(zhǎng)的家庭。 骯臟的社區(qū)，混亂的街道，昏庸的政治， 成長(zhǎng)的環(huán)境。 … 但是， 少年的內(nèi)心深處其實(shí)是溫暖和柔軟的， 他們渴望被尊重和了解， 不只是吃飽喝足，更需要精神與心靈的關(guān)懷，與愛(ài)。 父輩們雖可以理解，但也可以做的更多。 … 那窗明幾凈，那藍(lán)天白云，那金色稻田， 和那少年的笑容， 是最美好的期許！