Gasman
- 1997
- 15m
It's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectio... Read allIt's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectionate with them. They walk down a railroad track where an unkempt woman waits with two chil... Read allIt's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectionate with them. They walk down a railroad track where an unkempt woman waits with two children, about the same age as Lynne and Steven. The children go with them. They're all heade... Read all
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 wins & 3 nominations total
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Featured reviews
The father has two families, which means the four little children have blood relations. However, maybe of course, they do not know that.
In the Christmas party the main character girl is coming to feel uncomfortable about the other girl who is her half sister indeed. In the last scene, when they are coming back home, the order of the people especially the girls mentions the very touchy feelings of them. The girl is so confused but does not know the truth. This is a very interesting film and is questioning us about what to do with such a problem.
Set in an undisclosed Scottish city at Christmas, the story concerns a day in the life of lower class father (James Ramsey), daughter Lynne (Lynne Ramsey Jr) and son Steven (Martin Anderson) as they walk the tracks. En route, they mysteriously pick up more children from a woman (Jackie Quinn), Lisa (Lisa Taylor) and Robert (Robert McEwan).
Gasman is a powerful piece, due in no small part to the performance by Lynne Ramsey Jr. It is a powerful portrait of a working class young girl and the confusion she faces. When pretending to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, you really believe that 'There's no place like home.' The supporting cast are also suitably bedraggled for their characters to be believable. There are some fine visual flourishes in this short piece; the close shots of people getting ready for their day out give the film a very intimate feel, as if you are really looking into their family life. There is appropriate use of light and dark contrast, in particular as they are in wide shot walking up the tracks. Also, the working club Christmas party is visual delight, with child POV shots, slow motion and chopped up editing.
At times the Scottish dialect is quite hard to follow with the sound quality being quite raw. My main issue with the film would be that Gasman doesn't have anything original to say. Gasman is suitably bleak according to genre convention but its essential message being that it's challenging growing up in a lower class environment has been a mainstay of social realist cinema since before Kes. Still grim it would seem.
There is appropriate use of light and dark contrast when they are walking up the tracks. I feel sorrowful because the season of winter is added to the scene.
Some people will think this film is a dull one and I got mixed feelings. I do not watch it many times. However, this 15 minute short is a masterpiece. You should watch it.
Did you know
- TriviaThis short film is featured on the Criterion Collection DVD for Ratcatcher (1999).
- ConnectionsEdited into Cinema16: British Short Films (2003)
Details
- Runtime15 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1