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8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: 'Gasman', 9 February 2005 Author: bgilch from Montreal, Quebec
I've never been a fan of short films for their 'art-school' and 'experimental' qualities. Simply being a product of those two is not enough. They are almost always too personal, too opaque, and too much obviously serving as 'stepping-stones'.I was therefore happy to see Lynne Ramsay's short films as the chrysalis for her superb feature films. I was also impressed to learn that she won the Cannes short-film prize, *twice*. And now I can see what others saw in her, for _Gasman_ is the best short film I have ever seen.Available on the Criterion DVD with _Small Deaths_ and the less good _Kill the Day_, _Gasman_ is a fully-fledged, visionary film that translates directly into the skill and grace of _Ratcatcher_._Gasman_ moves directly from the first piece of _Short Deaths_, with the distant father and Lynne Ramsay Jr. again taking centre screen. But _Gasman_ comes to a kind a fruition--a full story with many of the same themes and techniques of _Ratcatcher_: closely observed yet elliptical human behaviour, housing projects, slum-beauty, children's natures, a jumbled impressionistic world caught in partial body closeups and shots from behind people.The film 'tells' nothing, but the story is dead clear and builds slowly to an emotional pitch that is almost unbearable.This is a film of jaw-dropping beauty. Sounds trite, but that's how I feel. When the Da and two kids walk on the tracks, the camera is set to a partially closed iris which intensifies the available light and colour in an otherworldly sheen--one that is gone when they return on the same tracks at night, in disappointment. Beauty in service of story is the key.This *is* the best short film I have ever seen.
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: I like it, but I'm like that, 3 December 2000 Author: dshed (j.e.a.picksley@sms.ed.ac.uk) from Edinburgh
Gasman is a proper short film - little plot, none of it told explicitly, but a larger story going on around the camera. Like most of Lynne Ramsey's stuff (Ratcatcher being the best and most enjoyable example, because it isn't a short)it feels like and probably is 1970s/80s East-end Glasgow, the struggling classes and a fairly grim outlook, but you see the little sparks of interest in real lives, and being a small story told very much from a child's point of view, it's much more hopeful, interesting and happy than it could have been. The characters, so few, and so little seen in the short still have immense believability and completeness. Most people will find this dull, but if you're the kind of person who knows how to get hold of a copy, you're probably the type of person who'd enjoy it. Arty, but not impenetrable, simple but thought-provoking.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Merry Christmas, social realist style., 25 October 2006 Author: D Hooper (twistedhooch) from United Kingdom
It's grim up north the old saying goes; Gasman by Lynne Ramsey won't change that stereotype but it does illustrate the talent of this director. This short film shares similarities with the both work of Mike Leigh and social realist 'kitchen sink' films of the sixties, in showing a slice of life story from the lower classes. Read; bleak setting and diegetic sound.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.
Gasman, 21 December 2009 Author: Mariana Silva from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Gasman is a short film that stirs up a great amount of detail and emotion in a short period of time. Seen very much from a young child's point of view, it shows nothing in the beginning but then starts to develop itself with a great potential. For example, in the beginning, the kids are getting ready to go out with their father but the mother stays at home and watches out the window as they leave. Then, you just see them walking through the tracks until finally they get to a stop. Then you start to realize that the father has another family and his kids seem very much confused by what is going on. There are a lot of mixed feelings throughout the film and it is very much clear, although not many words are said. The way the camera moves around from character to character is what tells the story and gives it so much power. The mixed feelings between the characters are clear through the way that the camera moves around between the characters. It is an extraordinary piece that is told by its form, rather than text.
My thoughts;, 20 December 2009 Author: Brieanne IsAwesome from United States
I too was surprised by Ramsay's "thorough understanding" of a child's mind and feelings. Gasman was a good description of a Little girls relationship with her father. Her rivalry with another little girl, who looks quite similar, and is of the same relative age; the two in a sort of competition for the fathers lap. Not being able to 'share' her father she begins to pull her rivals hair. In this film the railroad is a symbol of the fathers long toiling life, his being torn between his two families/lives. I am sort of wondering, what the two sons, they kind of just walk and are in the sides of the shots, not really characters but props, but I cannot quite figure out what they are doing/ what purpose they are sharing.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: A remarkable and poetic short film!, 22 April 2008 Author: from United States
This short film from Lynne Ramsay is extremely impressive on a technical level as well as emotionally stirring. The director has an uncanny ability to capture those seemingly small and insignificant moments in a child's life which have a lasting and profound effect; those moments when everything changes, innocence is lost and nothing will ever be the same again. The children in her films learn the facts of life the hard way and quite often have to make sense of them on their own without the aide of an understanding parent. I was more moved by "Gasman" than I was with "Ratcatcher" (her first feature length which is a must see for true film connoisseurs) for this reason. The director keeps information from the audience, so that when we discover what the little girl discovers it's just as new and poignant for the viewer without being predictable. Lynne Ramsay is a true "auteur" who possesses the uncanny ability to capture beautiful and haunting moments of life.
3 out of 6 people found the following review useful: the child-director, 15 October 2005 Author: Ga Bek from Kazakhstan/USA
I was amazed by Ramsay's thorough understanding of children and their feelings. This film, a touching portrayal of a father-daughter relationship, is by far the best I have seen. Poetical depiction of the seemingly endless railways are reminiscent of the long and hard life. One has to accept the people you love as they are and realize that they may be loved by others. One needs to be able to share the beloved. Final scene is the best. The girl forgives her rival. It is interesting how the girl starts to hate her rival. I wonder how important was the fact that they look alike. I think I want to start shooting movies as well.
0 out of 2 people found the following review useful: This film was missing something, 23 February 2008 Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
I guess I am the dissenting vote here, but I didn't particularly like GASMAN. Some of it isn't the fault of those who made the film, but was the fault of the people who put this film on disk. That's because the accents were at times very hard for me to understand and there was no captioning on the DVD. To the average American, some British accents are tough to understand and my mild hearing loss made this a particularly frustrating film. However, what the film makers could have done better was providing a context for this short film. You gather that the man has two families but you are left asking so many questions that aren't explained in the film. In other words, it's a short film that has left out key portions of the narrative--and this just seemed sloppy. It's too bad, because the basic idea behind the short was interesting.By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD. On this DVD are 16 shorts. Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying--it's just a shame about the captioning.
2 out of 28 people found the following review useful: Much better than the cr*p that Ramsey has been putting out as features in the few years since making this short, 10 July 2004 Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK
A single mother drops off her daughter and son with their father so that he can take them and his other child to a Christmas party. Both the adults are struggling to make ends meet in the depressed region in Scotland and the father finds things hard going trying to keep the kids happy with very little cash in his pocket.Lynne Ramsey's short film has very little plot and allows you to look into a situation or a theme without the hindrance of having to tell a full story at the same time. In this regard I had no problem with it because this is what many short films are like and I watch many short films but really this is what Ramsey continues to do with her short films so it is more of a flaw in her than a decision to make this short in this way! I generally disliked both of the features I have seen from the same director but I will always try things I haven't seen – even from occasionally pretentious Scottish directors! I actually enjoyed this because, in the short format, I didn't mind that she had dropped plot for a more general flow and I actually found this short to be more enjoyable than her features!The general story is one of split families and poor conditions and it is interesting because so much is conveyed by minor actions and looks. It won't win any prizes (although amazingly her other stuff has) but I did enjoy it and it was interesting enough to keep me watching. The cast are all OK and seem natural enough, even if it is very much a family affair – I don't know if Ramsey sees herself as some sort of Scottish working class crusader but I certainly don't think her family fit into the working class mould – the girl playing Lynne was rather posh even if the man playing Da was suitably rough around the edges and did well conveying the feel of a man rather crushed by his situation – but not totally crushed, just more worn.Overall this is not a great short but I was surprised to like it at all. It is much better than the features that Ramsey has made even though it contains the same 'weaknesses' as those features – the difference being that in a short film, lack of plot and character development is not so much a problem as in a 90 minute feature. Maybe nobody has explained this to her! Anyway, not much plot but the concept is interesting and Ramsey's direction is good in creating the feel of poverty and life without a great deal of hope or happiness.
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