Lynne Ramsey's 'Gasman'

To say what Lynne Ramsey's 1997 short film Gasman is about would be to miss the point. Whether or not the father figure in the film is the father of the 'other' daughter character is irrelevant, nor is social realism an aspect considered by Ramsey in this particular film; it's not the lyrics that matter, it's the way they're sung. Ramsey's film aims to recreate that feeling of childhood, perhaps specifically that period tilting between infancy and adolescence; the film even shows the beginning's of the slide into full blown adolescence or 'coming of age' of sorts. The film tries to give an account, all the more real and convincing for being rooted in a specific event, of how we as children not only perceive things and react to them but, perhaps most importantly, how, as adults, we remember them. We are given our indicator, the language the film will speak, of this very early on through the almost POV shot of the toy car having sugar poured into it; an expression not only of the way a child sees, but of the mind of a child and the logic within it.  The camera is positioned at eye level with the children, for views of domestic life we can all remember as adults; 'the feel of the kitchen floor on our legs', ' the colour the lights gave off in the living room', 'the way dad polished his shoes'. Not only shot composition and lighting but sound is also a major factor in delivering that 'memory' feeling. The film eventually becomes subjective to the character of Lynne, perhaps most obvious when certain sounds are drowned out or heightened in the disco upon seeing the girl on her father's lap. The use of this technique is systematic of the language the film has set out, but, can grasp the viewer even tighter if they are able to connect with those feeling's of childish ignorance and lack of comprehension. Songs playing in the background of the kitchen and disco play clearly all the way through their respective scenes as though being hummed back from memory and also denote the time the film is set in, the seventies, essentially, the past. These styles are continued all the way through the film and is important to perceiving the film correctly, which is based on a childhood experience from Ramsey's life. Feeling a kinship with the way the film, or Ramsey, remembers these events from it's/her past is perhaps what the film/Ramsey is striving for the most. Whether or not the film is successful is perhaps most specific to who is watching it, Ramsey only aims to recreate her personal experience on the screen in a way that will communicate with other's recollections, memories and perceptions of their own past. For me, the film was very successful.