Gasman (1997) User Reviews

Merry Christmas, social realist style.

[twistedhooch · 6/10 · 25 October 2006]

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.

complicated

[user-704-392173 · 7/10 · 8 July 2013]

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.

The Fact Which Is Not Acceptable

[AdamHawkes · 8/10 · 12 July 2013]

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.

I like it, but I'm like that

[dshed · 3 December 2000]

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.

Gasman

[odette0515 · 6/10 · 16 September 2013]

There is one family, a father, a mother, one son and one daughter. The mother is trying to get her daughter to wear her dress. Children are about to go to Christmas party. The father is leading his children to the party. On the way, three people are waiting them, one older brother, one younger sister, and their mother. The father talks to their mother. And the brother and the sister join them. The father is asked to take them to the party with his children. At first, I thought this film is about the friendship between two young girls, but I was wrong. Maybe, that sister does not have her father, so she behaves like a baby and sits on the father. And for his daughter, it is not funny. It looks that may be the daughter thinks she is trying steal her father. At the last scene, the father holds two girls. It looks that they are made up with each other. But not, I understand how much the young girl loves her father and that girls can hide their claws.

'Gasman'

[bgilch · 10/10 · 9 February 2005]

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.

Very suggestive

[arkts31 · 6/10 · 9 February 2014]

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.

A remarkable and poetic short film!

[karenflash · 10/10 · 22 April 2008]

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.

Life-changing Christmas

[bongiovi-44006 · 6/10 · 30 July 2017]

The story focuses on a girl who find a fact that her father has another family. The girl dresses up and go out with her father and brother, but on the train rail, join a girl and a boy, whom she doesn't know. And from the girls the remarks the daughter notices she is not the only daughter of her father.

Firstly I thought, why does the father put them together? It doesn't seem to me that is the right time for children to face the reality. They should enjoy the party but looks miserable.

The story is a bit dark and I didn't like it so much. But the camera work is good in the way of implying the complexity of the family. And I like the brother playing with a mini car and sugar seeing it as snow.

unique camera work

[mindopener623 · 9/10 · 15 February 2014]

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.

parents' affection to children

[riodejaneirofl · 7/10 · 9 August 2017]

Gasman makes me feel too empty for words.

Children have the same feelings as the adults. Jealousy is the feeling we all surely feel. However children's jealousy is stronger than the adults' one. But children control themselves in their small hearts. When we watch their control attitude, we must feel pain.

I wonder how they live to be adults. Jealousy makes them feel lonely.

Parents must flood them with much affection. It is one of the duties of the parents.

When I become mother, I want to watch this movie again. I have to think what is the most important. I want to protect what I should protect.

This movie makes me feel so.

the child-director

[onerpaz · 10/10 · 15 October 2005]

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.

The subject is unambiguous

[vxyytcsg · 6/10 · 9 January 2024]

I didn't quite grasp the theme of this movie, but the portrayal of the child's life, especially depicting the girl going through adolescence, was evident. I had several points of confusion while watching this film. Firstly, I found it odd that, unlike in many countries where Christmas is often spent with family, in this movie, the protagonist doesn't spend it with her family but with the child of another family. I couldn't understand what the creator was trying to convey about this. Secondly, I wondered why there were only men at the party venue. Although I couldn't quite comprehend what this short film was attempting to convey, in my interpretation, it seemed to highlight a reversal of gender roles in the household, leading me to think that the difference in roles between men and women was the main theme. Honestly, the theme was a bit challenging for me to grasp.

a strange film

[ysk865540 · 4/10 · 12 February 2014]

I think this is a strange film.

At the beginning of the film, people's faces are not seen. The images that are projected in the opening of the film are extreme close up, so it is difficult to know what the objects are.

It is an unusual style.

Gradually, I could know the objects shown in this film, however I could not understand what message the filmmaker wants to send.

I could only know the storyline of this film.

The atmosphere in this film is melancholic, so I was depressed after watching this film.

This is fairly serious

[goto-kazoku-4 · 9 July 2013]

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.

Dark Christmas story

[momorytm · 7/10 · 25 February 2019]

A 9-year-old girl goes to Christmas party with her father and brother. She finds out something special. I do not expect a happy ending somehow from the beginning of the story. The film has neither much ups and downs nor a clear ending. Yet, it makes the audience gradually feel something as they watch. After finishing watching the film, I notice some points that could be considered foreshadowing. In the beginning, the mother does not react after the father kisses her. She is kind of rejected by her kids. She looks at the father and kids out of the window. It does not really show her emotions, but I can tell that she knows something and what is going to happen next. The way they shoot and edit is really interesting to me. In the beginning, only part of their body is shown in the screen with some materials such as a toy, a cigarette, a pair of shoes or colorful materials like a little girl's tights and a floor with Christmas music playing from the radio. I think that the filmmakers did nice work making the film so aesthetic. Overall, I like how the story is going and how the filmmakers edit and put aesthetic materials in the film.

Christmas

[dyaaisguo · 8/10 · 30 July 2013]

I think that Gasman is difficult to understand at first. However I can understand second. Little girl and boy and their father go to the party in Christmas season. They look forward to going the party. On the way they meet a girl and boy and their mother. A little girl ask her father "Who are them?" However he doesn't answer. It is strange. Two girls get along with in short time. Besides his daughter gets angry to a girl because a girl gets along with her father and they fight in the party. Perhaps this movie is very deep story. In addition to, I think that the last scene is so important. His daughter may be notice. It is horror story. Why does he bring the girls? I don't believe it. I would like to see continuance of this. I am interested in this movie. This is so exciting.

A girl's lifelong learning

[b-88494 · 6/10 · 26 February 2019]

The story is about a little girl learning the complexity of human relationship when she goes to the Christmas party with her father and older brother. Throughout the movie, I was drawn by the focus of the camera. Most facial expression by characters is out of focus. I do not know the truth, but I feel like it gives the audience "blank" or "freedom" to imagine the characters' emotion by themselves. Especially, the father's face is hidden most of the time although he is in one of the important positions in the film. I also like the way of clothing, which seems to express each character's situation, especially economically. For example, the main girl dresses fancy with the cute, brand new shoes and yellow tights for the party. Meanwhile, the other girl wears no tights in freezing cold winter. Besides, the depiction of men and women are in contrast. Men look indifferent to what is going on around them, even the boys. On the other hand, women including girls fight, show their emotion by no words, but their gazes.

Truth can be hard

[Indiana-Harrison · 9/10 · 9 August 2017]

This film is about accepting a hard truth. A girl goes to a Christmas party with her father and brother and she finds out something about her father. This film is quite depressing. At the first time she meets other girl and boy, she laughs at them because they seem to be poor kids. She has a sense of superiority to them. However when the other girl said her father is hers and sits on his lap, her sense of superiority is broken. This situation freaks her out. She tries to protect her world. She has an antipathy against her because they are at the same position in a family. But at the end, she realizes that that girl is very much like her. When she drops a stone she was going to throw at her, she knows that girl could be her deep down. She realizes that the world is not fair to everyone and it doesn't work like she wants.

it is difficult for a little girl to accept reality

[papanda419 · 7/10 · 27 July 2013]

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.

Gasman

[shojijason · 8/10 · 5 September 2017]

This film is about a story couple kids that have a same father. The film didn't show much about the relationship of their parents and why they divorced, though the children made a great impact to the film. The girls fight was so realistic, I even felt tremor and also was able to think of the feeling of children who have divorced parents. The point I liked about this film is many things are showed very negative and dark. For example, the girl's jealousy, the boy's feeling, the parents secret, and the dark background. Christmas should be a happy time but in this film, it's a complicated event for them. Many short films have a happy ending, but this one is not really a happy ending or a sad one. I like this weird type of film.

sad

[mnguuuu · 6/10 · 24 July 2017]

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.

beautiful and impressive

[safrannene · 8/10 · 1 February 2014]

A girl is dressing for the Christmas party. Her name is Lynne. She, her brother and her father, walk on a railway track and meet a woman with her two children. Lynne doesn't know them, but her father decides to take the children to the party.

I was surprised at the first scene of the film. For the first few minutes, I can't see the face of actors. I can see only hands, legs and other parts of body of Lynne's family, but they seem to be busy and happy on the nice Christmas day. I like the unique camera work. The way of using light is also nice. For example, the straight metal rail track at night is quite different from the same place in the day. Though the rail is mysterious in the daytime, it is more beautiful and impressive with light at night. I like the camera work, acting, music, and story. However, I can't understand the title 'Gasman'.

Gasman

[rumi-s0507 · 7/10 · 21 August 2013]

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.

Deteriorated work

[hind-21501 · 3/10 · 22 July 2017]

The girl called Lynne goes to the Christmas party with her brother and father. They meet another family along the way; one girl, one boy and their mother. Then, at the party, Lynne finds her father's secret.

This short film is very dark. The mood of this film was well created so I could understand Lynne's feeling and how truth is sad easily. I like that dark mood, but the story telling strategy makes this film boring. I think the story is very simple, but in this film, that was driven too slowly. This is a 15min short film but 15min is too long for the story. I think some scenes should not take much time because slow progression makes audiences bored. Moreover, this film ends suddenly and I was unsatisfied. Because of the ending is not twisted, I did not notice that is the last scene so I thought "Is that the ending?" I need more twisted and unpredictable ending to satisfy me.

I do not mean I hate dark films and stories and as I wrote, I love this film's dry and cold mood, but I think the strategy and the ending completely deteriorate this film. I may not understand the true meaning of the story, but that will not satisfy me enough.