The director of the short is Lynne Ramsay. She is from Glasgow herself and so her depiction of the suburbs will be very informed. She was awarded the ‘Cannes Prix Du Jury’ prise for ‘Gasman’, ‘Small Death’ and ‘Kill The Day’. She is arguably best known for her feature films ‘Ratcatcher’ and ‘Movern Callar’. ‘Ratcatcher’ was her debut feature film and won critical acclaim and a large batch of awards. These awards include ‘The Carl Foreman Award for Newcomer in British Film’ at the 2000 BAFTA Awards. She is currently working on a new feature film called ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’.
Within the short film many different ideologies and moral dilemmas are confronted and challenged. These challenges are immediate from the start. In the opening sequence the audience does not see anyone in full view. Many of the shots are of legs and arms. This challenges the usual conventions of a short film, as the usual structure is to be introduced to the setting, locations, some kind of problem and the main character(s), dilemma or predicament. This is a deliberate ploy by the director as it builds the audiences’ intrigue, which in turn keeps the audience watching. Stereotyping is used heavily in the opening sequence mainly to present the time period to the audience. The film set in the 70’s/80’s and so generic shots such as bored children waiting to go out and the father getting ready slowly as the mother is helping him and his children rather than getting ready herself. This presents the audience with a challenge of the ‘old fashioned’ ideology that women should serve men. This is challenged by a more feminist ideology that men and women are equal. This inequality is shown to establish the time period of the piece but more importantly is a reflection of the feministic view taken by the director. The montage of arms and legs is a series of shot that are not sustained for any length of time however the shot of the young girl putting her tights on is longer than the rest. This highlights that the character may be shown soon as well as underlining her importance to the story. The short uses intertextuality of ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. This intertexuality is metaphorical for ‘the grass is always greener’, which alludes to the families financial difficulties. The line ‘no place like home’ is repeated many times and foregrounds that something is going to change her view of home forever. The girl chooses to wear red shoes, like ‘Dorothy’ rather than black shoes this colour is a symbol for passion and is also a statement colour. This statement colour is a motif of young children and their carefree attitude. This is used as a juxtaposition to later events.
The main character is finally reveals and she is fuzzy, easily antagonized and temperamental. Firstly the arms are forced into the air, with a disobedient resistance and then the high angle looks down on the young girl. This yet again reinforces that bad events will soon follow. The putting on of the dress is a character code and shows that the family is abrupt and aggressive, which is an effect of huge pressures and burdens. The burdens are taken out of the children. This sparks many audience members to have a moral opposition to these actions, as the children are nor their because they chose to be and that whatever problem parents have children should not be punished for being children. This is a moral and slightly religious ideology that is completely disregarded by the family, in particular by the mother. This presents the mother very unfavourably, however her actions are explained by the discovery of the father second family.
The mother and her son have an immediately obvious distance and therefore and issue with the father. This could show how both of thee characters know of his adultery and second family or for his possible frailties as a father. This is hugely significant in the case of the boy because a religious ideology would say that fathers are very close to their sons and they are their responsibility yet a binary opposition to this is that the gender of off spring does not dictate the relationship they will have. This distance is also shown by the fact that the young girl is ‘daddy’s little girl’, a very stereotypical view of fathers and daughters. This closeness also show how the girl may well be ignorant to the fathers misdemeanors. The shot of the mother in the window, is usually one of happiness and joy, which is a stereotypical motif of housewives used in many films however this shot is used to convey very different feelings. The shot rather shows her concern and the reflection in the glass is used to mask the character, which is metaphorical of the masking of her feelings. Within the home settings many technical elements are combined to foreground the harrowing and harsh events to come. One of these is the diegetic sound of the toy car scraping on the sugar/salt. This is a harsh unpleasant sound, which juxtaposes against the happy Christmas song. The lighting inside the house is blue, which provides a grime, dull appearance to the house, metaphorical of bad feelings and dark secrets.
The first action outside the house is a wide shot of the road, with the characters at the top of the frame, this along with the dull, overcast weather and the low angle give a bleak impression their home. The characters are silhouetted, which could lead to the feeling of misplaced hope. The boy straggles behind, which shows his alienation and separation from his sister and father, whom are very close. The slow tracking shot on the railway tracks presents a hopelessness from the situation, The characters’ regional identity is shown by the lack of workmen on the train tracks, highlighting the endemic poverty of the area. The pinhole camera effect used present an old fashioned feel to the shot. The mise-en-scene gives a quaint, nostalgic feel. The lighting present Glasgow as heavenly and the place to be because it is illuminated. This is a religious metaphor because heaven is full of light much like Glasgow. This also shows the distance between the suburbs and the inner city. The proxemics in the shot gives the impression of closeness. The railway tracks push the audience towards looking at the protagonists. The buildings are shown to be smaller than the characters and so gives them a moment of triumph. The wind in the girl’s hair gives a calm and peaceful moment for the father and his daughter. This a hugely important shot as it establishes that within the turmoil of the family there are moments of joy and of peace, however the son is disconnected from this, yet again reinforcing that moments are scarce and not perfect.
The movement of the father out of the frame leaves the two children alone, this is symbolic of the father consistently leaving his family, in particular his children stranded and unprotected. This could be seen by some to be neglect on the father’s part. It shows how he cannot be a good father to both sets of children. The little excerpt of slow motion when the girl steps forward presents a moment of realization and daunt. The shot and reverse shot of the two girls looking at each other shows how the children are sizing each other up. This leads towards conflict between siblings, sibling rivalry, favouritism and jealousy.
The father then goes to touch his lover’s face she turns away in rejection. The close up of the piece of hair is symbolic of his loss and how fragile his relationship is. Her expression is defensive and questioning, this is due to the raises eyebrows. The expression is between bitterness and disappointment, there is some distain in the shot.
The young girl is still in the same frame as when we left her. It shows how she is taking in what has just happened and that she is slightly apprehensive. She is weary of here new siblings. She senses competition and so runs up to be close to here father, this is the start of a power struggle between the two girls. The boys are happy to amuse themselves whereas the girls want to talk more. This shows how the director is imposing the view that girls are more mature than boys, however the director also challenges this with later events. The talking is also present in order to show how the two girls are trying to figure out each other’s motives. The high angle when the newly found sister touches her dress shows an attempt of closeness. The holding of hands show a moment where the girls could be friends and get on. The diegetic sounds show a feelings of joy and carelessness, this is yet another juxtaposition to what will happen later.
The father walks in to the song, ‘Where’s your daddy gone?’ his expression is very bleak, the girls walk in next very close to their father, yet again showing their close-knit relationship to their father and temporary strong bond between the sisters. The boys walk in sluggishly afterwars, showing their detachment from their sisters, their father and the whole situation. There is a maturity in the boys’ actions, as they know that throughout the Christmas party they will need to amuse themselves, the girls are much more naïve in this respect. The panning shot follows the father walking over towards his friends. The father proceeds to drink away his sorrows. The resorting to drink is also a sign of endemic poverty. The only help available is through a glass, rather than social services. Some audience members may question the father morals, as his children should be his solace not a beer.
During the fathers time with his friends the girl play together, whereas the newly discovered brother is in the bottom of the frame alone and isolated. This gives him a further mysterious identity because the audience do not know his name, his personality and it is symbolic of the fact no one knows how he feels, not even his father. The prop of a very old, bare Christmas tree is another little reminder of the endemic poverty that surrounds the children. The tree is a point of comparison between it and the son. The tree is in a poor condition and yet manages to look better than the son. This steers the audience towards feeling sympathetic and labeling the father as neglectful. There is a dramatic irony because the two girls are still uninitiated, they do not know what is going on however the father knows and the audience does too. The audience is therefore initiated, the irony is found within the joy of the girls. The father Christmas is playing with one of the girls and not the other, this is a mirror of what their father does everyday. The canted angle tells us that the order is starting to break down and that chaos will soon ensue. The father Christmas is dancing with a provocative rock and roll, sexual move however this is not present to the character as sordid it rather more represents the character as enjoying the party and his drink. The way an 1970’s audience would view his actions is very far removed fore the audience reaction nowadays. The camera is mimicking the drunken body movements and as it continues the children start to be more and more uncontrolled. The lack of control builds up tension within the scene.
The father is nonchalant with a cigarette in his mouth and it shows how he is not really bothered about where his children are or what they are doing because he is at ease and that is all that matters. Yet the father now has to pick up his daughter from his relationship with his lover. The slow motion in the shot show how the other daughter can see what is happening and has finally worked out that the girl she has joyfully played with is her sister. This technique was use when the girls first met at the train tracks. The scene quick changes pace with the girl pulling the others hair, the control and balance has been lost. The men gathered around the table find the spat humourous whereas the father is still acting rather nonchalantly. His beer is still more important. The characters are forced out of the frame and the resulting promexics shows the distance that has grown, very quickly, between the father and his daughter. The father reaches for another cigarette but the packet is empty, this empty packet spells the end of his solace and he now only has himself to look to. This is his moment of realisation. They must leave the party as soon as possible.
There is an appearance versus reality battle outside as they are walking in a link however this is no to be united, rather more to be constricted and separated to prevent fighting. The holding of hands has changes from the peaceful, friendly manner in which they walked to the party, into an aggressive, deceptive way of hurting each other. The friends are now enemies. The father notices the confrontation and so tries to be attentive to both children by picking them up. This is not a moment of happiness for anyone, least of all the father. This outcome could be symbolic of the father’s rightful comeuppance. The darkness of the scene is metaphorical of the feelings being felt. There is also fog, which adds to the sense of confusion and difficulty as the characters cannot understand or see emotionally. The silhouettes and the lines of the track s are almost symbolic of their fates, to be separated. The girl is still angry with her new sister for wanting her father’s attention and so looks to throw a rock at her but does not. This is a moment of acquiescence and growth, showing that she has grown in maturity and possibly in acceptance.
