Rats in the Ranks

A near perfect documentary that benefits immeasurably from the free-wheeling personality of Larry Hand and his cheeky asides to the off-screen filmmakers as he vies for yet another term as mayor of Leichhardt, an inner-west council in Sydney. For all of the dirty tricks and conspiring characters, it's the comedy that kept this viewer coming back many times to see it: councillor Trevor ruminating on the unimportance of it all, the get-together at the local swimming pool in celebration of council week, Hand leaking stories to the Sydney Morning Herald ("off the record"), and of course the outwitted Labor boys fuming upstairs in the council building while they await the never-to-arrive "rats" of the title. Every scene a gem.

This great film deserved much wider international release. Its absence on Oscar night in favour of US-oriented material was yet another weary example of how uninformed, onanistic and complacent the Academy can be.

R.I.P. co-director Robin Anderson (d. March 2002). Quiet Aussie legend.

This film does for politics what Spinal; Tap did for rock music. Only difference is that this is a real documentary, not a mockumentary with scripted jokes. It has pretty much everything to recommend it. Some brilliant lines, some amazing twists in the events and a great ending. If everyone saw this film, politics would be far more popular. Larry Hand is the left-wing Mayor of Leichardt, a small township outside Sydney. Once a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was obviously expelled at some point but took that in his stride, saying "I've always felt you haven't really joined the ALP until you've been expelled from it." Now his term is up and it looks as if he won't be re-elected by the council as Labor runs a candidate against him. But he decides to fight to keep the job with a mix of charm and cheating. Absolutely compulsive whether or not you are interested in politics or Australia or neither.

This is a great documentary covering a mayoral election in suburban Sydney where the incumbant mayor, Larry Hand, is seeking re-election in an internal council election. Larry needs 7 of the 12 Councillors' votes and we watch him attempt every ruse available to gain the support of his fellow councillors. We get a fly on the wall view of political manouvering and backroom machinations as Larry cajoles, flatters and threatens his fellow councillors into voting for him. While there are some instances where people refused to be filmed negotiating with Larry, generally we are present at Larry's side throughout his campaign.

Although we get to see first hand the duplicitous nature of Larry, we still sympathise with him and hope he defeats the evil Labor Party candidate (filmed in a very negative light) and retain his mayoral robes for another term. Rats in the Ranks features twists and turns befitting a thriller and is a great example of realpolitik.

Highly recommendable.

I can only agree with other comments that this documentary is so perfect it might have been scripted. It has everything you could want in a drama right down to a suspenseful climax.

One thing that hasn't been highlighted is the battle that some council members have with their own conscience - watching them agonise between their consciences and their party loyalty is funny and painful at the same time.

If this wasn't a documentary, I would have to laugh and applaud the great casting and acting... and what a script! However, a documentary it is, and that is the saddest thing I have ever heard. I have never been gladder that I don't live in Sydney.