One of the most brilliant and churning short films of all time, Lynne Ramsay’s 1998 debut basically launched her career. The meaning of the title, initially, is hard to fathom. No spoilers here, but if you’re thinking “Please, please, let there be fart gags!” disappointment is guaranteed.
It’s Christmas time in a deprived nook of Scotland in the 70s. Young Lynne (Lynne Ramsay Jr; Ramsay’s niece) has a sharp face and no shortage of gumption. Told by her mother to hurry up and get dressed, Lynne, wrestling with a wayward pair of tights, growls, “Shut up!”
Having battled and triumphed over her patent leather shoes, this budding cineaste pretends to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (“there’s no place like home”). Soon, she’s being bundled into a yellow dress. Delighted by its frothiness, she races off to find her dad, (James Ramsay; Ramsay’s brother), who immediately compliments her. Lynne is a daddy’s girl. A queen bee. Alas, she’s about to be dethroned.
The film is utterly sympathetic to its egocentric heroine; what makes the story special is how much attention is paid to the people around her.
As Lynne, her brother and their dad leave for a party, a tracking shot moves from the door of the family home (which the mum all but shuts in our face) to the window, where the mum now stands, her face mostly hidden. Yikes! The mum seems trapped and abandoned. What does she know that Lynne doesn’t? Even before three new characters enter the frame – an exhausted and resentful-looking blonde, who takes money from the dad and whose children look eerily like Lynne and her brother – we’re holding our breath.
Lynne’s dad brings the boy and girl to the party, which is one of those heavenly/hellish affairs that sums up the 70s (ciggies; Slade; sottish Santas). And then the dad scoops the little girl onto his lap and, well, the truth comes out.
Ramsay’s fascination with non-happy families continues to this day. Obviously, her current work is more polished. But that doesn’t mean it’s better. Lynne, in my opinion, is a more memorable figure than Nina Votto, the pint-sized avenger in 2017 thriller, You Were Never Really Here. And Ekaterina Samsonov’s perfectly decent performance, in that film, can’t compete with Ramsay Jr’s shattering turn.
Lynne Ramsay once said, “I’ve been really lucky to have worked with some special actors – I think the best in the world.”
Vis a vis great actors, sometimes there’s no place like home.
Gasman is available to view on YouTube
