Adam Feeley
Despite being one of the most acclaimed and accomplished filmmakers in Britain, Lynne Ramsay has only made four feature films, with a noticeable gap between the last two. Why? The answer is easy. She is someone who makes films completely on her own terms, the commander of her creative ship. Each of her four feature films are distinctive and idiosyncratic, moving from a coming-of-age tale to a distraught mother and most recently a beleaguered hitman. And she still has ways to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo5w0PYQZpw
Born and raised in Glasgow, Ramsay first made waves with her debut feature ‘Ratcatcher’ (1999), a haunting, mystical tale about a young boy living in a 1970’s poverty-stricken Glasgow housing estate. The film is littered with dark imagery, combining the tragic with the beautiful, that would come to define her film-making style. An example of this is the opening image of the film which shows on the titular lead wrapping himself with a white curtain, hiding himself from the murky filth that surrounds him. An unconventional coming of age film, Ramsay contrasts the city’s decay with the hopes and dreams of a young boy. The city is palpable, the streets lined with rubbish, the water grey and murky and the surrounding wheat fields golden brown. With ‘Ratcatcher’, Lynne Ramsay arrived.
Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian described Ramsay as “one of the most distinctive talents in British cinema”
Three years later, her most underrated and much less discussed film ‘Morvern Callar’ (2002) was released. The film follows a young woman whose boyfriend commits suicide leaving her his finished but unpublished novel. Struggling with her own identity and general life direction, she publishes the book under her own name. An exploration of grief and identity, the titular Morvern takes the publishing advance and heads to Spain with her best mate. A twisted, off-kilter female liberation film, Morvern parties, takes…