Ratcatcher, Lynne Ramsay (1999)

This film is essentially about a twelve year old boy on the brink of adulthood, confronting and coming to terms with the most devastating “facts of life.” Ratcatcher is most potent in its images and visual atmosphere, which are striking in their bleak, gritty beauty. Set in a poor Glasgow neighborhood in the 1970s during a trash collectors strike, the majority of the scenes make note of the piling black trash bags in the streets, scummy garbage-filled pond, and, like the title suggests, the rampant rat problem. There is an overpowering feeling of moral and material decay in this film, as we witness the unpunished cruelty of children against the backdrop of urban decay. Morality is a prominent theme through the film. James, the main protagonist, is introduced into the narrative when he accidentally drowns and kills another neighborhood boy. Though James never admits to his incredible mistake over the course of the narrative, the truth is always nagging at the viewer, as Ramsay constantly brings focus back to the pond. The pond seems to represent a dirty reflection of our world, a world where rats breed in stagnant garbage and unattended children abuse and kill one another.
The most joyful moments are the film take place far from home (as far as James can get on the bus line) in the serenity of an unoccupied home in the country and the expansive pasture it rests on. The place becomes a literal, as well as a mental retreat for James as he longs for peace, space, and a clean slate. James, in his youthful curiousity, embodies resilience, light and potential in what would seem an utterly hopeless situation.