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.

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.

'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is a story of a Christmas.

[ih-n14 · 7/10 · 5 August 2013]

It is the Christmas. A family is getting ready for a Christmas party. A father, his son and his daughter leave for the party. When they are walking along the track, they met other family. There are a mother, a son and a daughter in the family. The father talks to the mother. Then the father takes charge of her son and daughter, and they go to the party.

I like the first scene of this movie. I like the scene which the family is getting ready for a Christmas. Their house is so cute and the scene which the daughter is wearing lovely dress made me feel relaxed and happy. This movie is a little difficult for me. Therefore I cannot understand many conversations, therefore I can understand the story a little. However I like the characters and the color.

This is a good movie. When it is the Christmas, I want to watch again.

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.

Beautiful movie

[kumayama · 6/10 · 14 February 2014]

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.

Gasman Review

[Mr_Waffles · 5/10 · 1 March 2019]

Review may contain spoilers. Gasman is a short film about a man who takes his children to a Christmas party where his daughter learns something earthshattering for her young life. The man meets up with a woman on his way to the Christmas party and has her children join his for the party. Why did he do this is a question that persists throughout Gasman, although it is fairly easy to guess. His daughter and the woman's daughter seem to get along, despite his daughter looking down on the other's appearance. At the party the woman's daughter is distressed as she ends up being left out of the goings on, and this leads to the man's daughter coming to the realization of the truth. Overall, Gasman is ok, but is fairly predictable. What makes this short film slightly irritating is that the accents are quite thick, so it is mostly unclear what is being said most of the time. Gasman can be found on YouTube and Vimeo and has a runtime of about 15 minutes.

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.

Review

[mao-yana32 · 6/10 · 17 July 2013]

A father, his daughter (Lynne) and his son (Steven) go to a Christmas party with a woman's daughter and son who look like almost the same age as them. This short film describes the children's sensitive mind. Lynne is jealous of the other girl for sitting on her father's lap, while the girl feels sad and lonely because there are not her parents and there are many strangers in the party. When I was a child, I felt a little jealous of other girls for talking with my father and also I felt lonely when there were not my parents around me, therefore I understand their feeling well. I cannot understand the father's feeling yet, however I would understand it in the future. I recommend everyone watching this film because it describes not only children's feeling but also parents' mind in an unusual situation and the audiences would watch it from children's and parents' viewpoint.

Emotional film

[craftholic1999 · 8/10 · 2 March 2019]

This is the story of a girl and a boy dress up and go out with father on Christmas day. A girl meets one girl. Those girls are so cute but they have a problem. This is a very emotional problem. In the film, there are not so many dialogs but I like the atmosphere. I can say that this film is nostalgic. I can describe the emotion from the people's face. This movie used the unique cutting style and it is very interesting. For example, at the beginning of this film, there is only a foot and hands and face is not shown. I can learn a lot from this film both emotion and cinematography. This is an old film but people have to watch it.

My thoughts;

[bnv121591 · 6/10 · 20 December 2009]

I too was surprised by Ramsay's "thorough understanding" of a child's mind and feelings. Gasman was a good description of a Little girls relationship with her father. Her rivalry with another little girl, who looks quite similar, and is of the same relative age; the two in a sort of competition for the fathers lap. Not being able to 'share' her father she begins to pull her rivals hair. In this film the railroad is a symbol of the fathers long toiling life, his being torn between his two families/lives. I am sort of wondering, what the two sons, they kind of just walk and are in the sides of the shots, not really characters but props, but I cannot quite figure out what they are doing/ what purpose they are sharing.

Complicated story

[coldplayer-57213 · 8/10 · 10 August 2017]

This is a short movie. One day, a girl who wears dress and brother go to a Christmas party with father. When they walk on a railroad track toward the Christmas party, they meet another family which is composed of a women, her son and daughter. they go to the party together except the women. The girl feels that the daughter knows father very well. In fact, there is a hidden truth. At first, I don't understand what is happened. However, when I watch the last scene, I can understand everything. So, If you want to know the hidden truth, I want you to watch this movie.

Doesn't really go anywhere

[beckyness-12086 · 7/10 · 2 November 2021]

This slice-of-life film didn't really lead anywhere, but there were some interesting parallels between the beginning and the end. I feel like it lacked and interesting ending, but nonetheless was an interesting insight into one man's double family life.

Christmas story

[kulalamie · 8/10 · 1 October 2013]

Today is a Christmas day. One little girl dresses up for the party. Her name is Lynee. Her brother plays a toy car. They go to pub by their father. They walk on a railway. Then, they meet one woman. She has 2 kids. One is girl, and one is boy. Her kids are same age as them. Woman leaves their kids with him. All of them go to a party at pub without woman. Father leaves 4 kids alone, father plays game with his friends. At first 4 kids play happily with them. However, Lynee finds that the woman's girl acts all familiar with her dad. Finally, father's girl is angry with the girl.

At first, I can't understand that movie's outline. So I saw this movie two times. I notice that, 4 kids are father's half brother by different mother. That's why Lynee is jealous of her. However, at last scene, Lynee can't throw a stone as her brother. I think she may be feels something same thing for the girl. This movie's theme is a little difficult for me, but story is good. So I recommend it!

It is complicated story.

[goalkeeper-yuta · 7/10 · 4 July 2013]

The father who has two kids meets a woman who has two kids to go to the Christmas party. He hides that he has another family and has another two kids. The two kids meet the other two kids suddenly. They must be confused, and they never thought they are brother and sister. The little girl is jealous of the other girl, because the other girl sits on her father's knees. If I were the little kid and faced with the same situation, I would get angry, so I can understand the daughter's feeling. I think it is difficult to make friends with each other. Many little children want their parents to take care of their kids. I want to ask the father why he has two families. Not only his wife but also their children must be depressed. Through this movie, I think we had better not associate with various women. We should cherish our family.

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.

Fragility and Bond

[kr-kr-dr3 · 7/10 · 22 July 2013]

This is a short film which is a little sad story. The main characters of this movie are little girls and their father. However the parent and child have some problem. The girls have the same father and different mother. The sentiments of the girls in cold Christmas season conveyed my mind deeply.

This film is Christmas story. Therefore, the manyChristmas songs like let it snow use in this film and give reality for me. I felt cold air of Christmas season. Although it is Christmas story, this story is dark and deep. However, the warm of human exists in end of the film certainly.

It is film that contained complex theme in fifteen minute. The trifling quarrel between two girls seems sorrowful. I felt fragility and bond of relationship of parent and children. I want you to see this film and think about relationship of parent and children.

This film was missing something

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 23 February 2008]

I guess I am the dissenting vote here, but I didn't particularly like GASMAN. Some of it isn't the fault of those who made the film, but was the fault of the people who put this film on disk. That's because the accents were at times very hard for me to understand and there was no captioning on the DVD. To the average American, some British accents are tough to understand and my mild hearing loss made this a particularly frustrating film. However, what the film makers could have done better was providing a context for this short film. You gather that the man has two families but you are left asking so many questions that aren't explained in the film. In other words, it's a short film that has left out key portions of the narrative--and this just seemed sloppy. It's too bad, because the basic idea behind the short was interesting.

By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD. On this DVD are 16 shorts. Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying--it's just a shame about the captioning.