User Reviews

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.

One of the most difficult problems to solve is the people relationships.

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.

A little girl, Lynne, puts on her yellow dress with her mother's help, while her brother is playing with a toy car and sugar. They are taken by their father to a Christmas party. On the way to the party, the three people meet a woman with two children. One of the two is a little girl who is as old as Lynne. Lynne talks to the girl and they become friends, so they just are friends. However, things are not so simple. They arrive at the party and a lot of children including Lynne enjoy themselves. While Lynne is dancing with Santa, the girl feels lonely and sits on the knees of Lynne's father. Looking at the scene, Lynne realizes that the girl is not just her friend. Lynne feels jealous of and anger with her. Since this moment, her mind is very complicated.

First, this film is very difficult to understand. Therefore it was not until I watched this film three times that I figure out what is represented. However, the director made it so on purpose, I think. Metaphors used in this film are all elaborate. Therefore it is hard, though, it made a sophisticated impression on me.

This film is a kind of masterpiece. I mean the great actors, actresses and director excel. Without them, this film couldn't be like this.

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.

I can't make sense of this film from the beginning to the end. In the film, it is Christmas time. A girl, her little brother and her father dress up and go to a pub to have a Christmas party. They go there without the girl's mother. Walking on a railroad track, they meet another family that is composed of a girl, a boy and their mother and they go there without the second mother. In the party, the girls have a dreadful row over the father. First of all, it is difficult to listen to the voices of the characters of this film. They speak quietly and unclearly. I can feel the intention of the production but as long as we can't listen to the voices, it is ineffective. In this film, the technique that they don't demonstrate directly but hint at is used a lot of times, however the hints are so difficult that to understand them disturbs watching this film. As usual, the end of this film isn't demonstrated directly, so when we finish watching this film, we can't feel catharsis. In brief, I want to say that overdone technique spoils the film.

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.

A girl and her brother start the preparation for the Christmas party. They go there with their father. On the way to the party when they are walking on the railroad, they see a woman and two children. The man has two families and he keeps this fact secret. A girl and her brother, of course, do not know that, so they are confused. She asks her father who they are, but he does not answer. Then they arrive at the party hall, and have a good time, but when a girl finds that the other girl are sitting on her father, she feels jealous. She cannot accept that her father is also the father of the other girl. I cannot understand why the father takes all of his children to the party and let them to see the other brothers, but I can understand the feeling of a girl. She is little, so she is confused, and it is difficult for her to accept reality.

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.

Gasman is a 1998 film by Lynne Ramsa. This film won Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Fest, the BAFTA Awards, and the Atlantic Film Fest. The direction and the camera work of this film are very strange. There is a little girl and a little boy. There is Christmas music. The girl gets dressed. The boy gets sugar on his toy car and plays with it. There is a mother, hurrying them up. In this scene, you can see the face of the characters hardly. Then, they go out and walk along the railway. The family arrives at a Christmas party. The visual and sound are somehow filled with uneasiness. This may be because of the strange direction and the unstable camera work. So, you will be drawn into the screen although it is very short film.

On Christmas Day, a young girl leaves for a Christmas event with her father and two other children also join with them on the way there. The young girl's feeling about the other girl changes as the time goes on.

The music is used effectively because there are Christmas songs and happy songs in accordance with the dance. As for the Christmas song, it helps to depict that children are high spirited and cannot wait for the party. In the last, the scene which a young girl is standing on the rail track and staring at the other children plays a role of summary of her conflict. We cannot see facial expressions of characters because of the few lights. By using this effects and showing same scene within ten seconds, it makes us think how the girl feels. The film expresses an important part in an indirect manner.

Although this is interesting film, a question remains what the title of this film means and what the connection with the content is.

Lynne, 8-9 year - old girl goes to a Christmas party with her father and brother. At the party, she notices that another girl treats his father as if he is her real father and get jealous and learns something surprising then. Although the story turns out to be not that complicated, I love this movie because it has a nice structure. While I am watching this film, it leaves many questions to my mind, for example, "Why mother does not go to the party?" "Why are there only father and their children in that party?" or "Why the girl is so familiar to Lynne's father even though she is supposed that they are stranger?" and all those questions are answered at the end of the film. I thought that this structure makes the movie interesting and the audience satisfied.

This movie is about children who react with naïve simple emotion to a situation by father in the Christmas party and also deep and meaningful.

The first scene of the movie shows us the foreign family's everyday morning. This scene of ordinary lets me think about foreign lives. The scene in the party, a girl got angry at a girl sat on her father. I think this is jealousy. But I don't know the true meaning. Last scene was also mysterious. On the railway, a woman who has other two children suddenly appears and takes them to somewhere without saying any words.

I think this movie is full of mysterious things for me, so I couldn't understand almost of all! Unfortunately there aren't many information about this. If I can understand the words what people saying in this, I can understand easily! Understanding movie only by watching is very difficult. Listening to words what they are saying is important!

A girl and her brother get dressed up and go out with their father. On the way, they meet a woman, a girl and a boy. They look like the same age with the brother. Two girls, two boys and their father go to a Christmas party. The girl looks happy, however, she sees the girl who she met a while ago is on the lap of her own father. She is angry. Probably, they are half brothers. However, the children are good friends.

This is a fairly serious story for me. I don't understand why their mother and father take them to the party together. I think that it is not good that a half-brother and half-sister met each other when they are children. The scene of the railroad track where father and his divorced wife talk is deeply impressive. I feel sorrowful because the season of winter is added to the scene. However, the girls are very cute. The blonde hair and the dress are charming. The party looks lively and happy, therefore I want to join such a party. I like the party scene.

This is a beautiful movie. Some impressive angles are used throughout the film; the shots not taking people's face, focusing on the girl's skirt, taking only silhouette. At the party scene, the camera's eyes move as if it is a member of children playing there. I like the scene that the family prepares for going to the Christmas party; The mother cares for everyone, the father sips a cup of coffee, the boy playing a minicab scattering the salt in the kitchen, the girl wearing her clothes for a special day. Actually, I'm not sure that I could understand the story and the deep meaning of this film well, especially the last scene, a girl standing and staring at another girl and her family with a rock in her hand. I also could not get why this film is titled "Gasman," because I feel it is a story of "girls." It's a story telling to us girls' mind is complicated. They can easily pretend to be friends, they love their fathers, and they are jealous.

This is a film made in 1998. Main characters are a father, his daughter and son. One day they walk to a party and meet two children, a girl and a boy, and their mother on a railroad. Later, the daughter of main side feels jealous of the other girl because she is familiar with her father. Actually, a remarkable secret among those characters is hidden.

Some children have a strong desire for exclusive possession, especially for their favorite things or people. In this case the daughter gets unpleasant for another girl since she feels as if another girl stole her father's love. Why do children show such intention? That's because, in my opinion, the world children know is too small. They cannot and are not allowed to take action by themselves. Therefore they try to defend the present position and surroundings. Don't describe them as selfish.

Please watch this film taking account of my remarks. Then, how do you feel about the girl, is she annoying or sympathetic?

This film is not easy to understand. I have watched this several times. A man and his children go to a party together. It is Christmas season in the movie, but it is full of eerie mood.

The main theme of this film is apparently affection of children to their parents. But there's another story behind the main story. This movie seems to be made intentionally in the child view so that the audience will follow the story and think same as the children. However, I think it is interesting to watch this in the parents view. I think this film is not only about children's feeling but also about complicated mind of the parents who hold some secrets. There are not so much words in the film, but some actions and conversations imply that there is something strange.

Besides, we can learn something about children from this film. Children seem to act on their feelings and impulse, but they may really understand a circumstance by instinct. If so, we have to care about children all the time because the pain a man have in the childhood doesn't disappear when he has grown up. The last scene is very meaningful and suggestive. There are not dynamic actions, but it has strong impact on us.

Someday in a winter season, a girl and her brother go to a Christmas party with their father. She wears very cute dress and coat. She looks like so happy, but her gay feeling does not last for a long time.

This movie is only about 14 minutes, but this makes me creepy. At first, I thought this movie is bright and makes me smile. I thought this movie draw a special day of a happy family. However, this image was changed soon… This is very dark story... The story is dark, but the situation is a happy Christmas party. This contrasting situation is fresh to me and it is a beautiful part of this movie.

The main character, Lynne, is so great. She expresses the pure heart of children well. Another character, Lynne's brother, is also great. He does not tell a lot, but his facial expression and behavior tell me about his feelings.

This movie is easy to understand.

One day, the girl whose name is Lynne leaves home with her father and brother to go to the Christmas party. They walk along the long railroad. After a short time, one woman is waiting them and leaves her two children who are the same age as his children. So he go to the party with four children. There are a lot of mysteries in this film. I don't understand why the title of this film is gas man and who the woman was. It is just my guess, but I suppose that she is his former wife. I can understand her feeling. The girl who is just about her age is realistically portrayed very well. Probably, Lynne feels that the girl keeps her father to herself. But the girl might be lonely because Lynne didn't care about her. So she tried to attract Lynne's attention. I think understanding children's feeling is very difficult.

The film is color film; however, the film screen is dark as black and white film. For two minutes thirty seconds since the beginning of the scene, faces of any characters not are screened. This shooting technique can say that interesting. While character's faces are not screened, at the first scene is that one adult person polishes men's black shoes. In the next scene is screened that someone mischief to put the sugar on the minicar. Then, the scene that a child who is running. After that, the young girl takes on the closes. She get dressed dress to mother. The first scene which appears someone's face, the young girl's face is screened. The audience knows that is before the landscape family go out. The family has a father, mother, elder brother and young sister. The father and children go to outside. Then, they meet another family; mother and elder brother and young sister. The father keeps another set of children. Then, those five people go to the Christmas party venues. The father and mother and another woman's likely to be adult circumstances; however, young children don't know the circumstances. This film is to predict the atmosphere of some secrets and some troubles to the audience in the whole volume.