Gas man follows the story of a father and his two kids on there way to a Christmas party when along the way he picks up two more children. Which later we come to realise this is his other family. It was written in 1997 by Lynne Ramay. The film has won several awards including, best short film at the Cannes film festival. A BAFTA, in Scotland and the Atlantic film festival. It has also been nominated for best short film at the BAFTA awards and the Cannes film festival(golden palm). Since Gas man Lynne Ramsay has gone on to do two feature films, Ratcatcher and Movern collar.
The film begins with a set of close-ups. The director strategically does this with the intent in hiding the main characters faces, in order to keep the audience interested and want to continue watching. Through these close-ups we can start to compose the story, from the characters present and also the context of the time of the year which is portrayed through the Christmas music playing during the course of the film. As the kids are waiting the man is getting ready with help from what we presume to be his wife. This shows traditional gender roles for this generation. When his suit is hanging up the plastic case used to cover it, is symbolic for his concealment of identity. Through the mise-en-scene of ironing boards, kitchen counters, clothes, carpets and cooking ware we can identify them as a working class family.
Next we see a longer take of the little girl getting dressed. The long take compared with others previous shows the films rationale, she is the protagonist within the film. As she puts her shoes on, she taps them together and says 'there's no place like home'. This intertextual link is to 'The wizard of oz'. From this we can explore various representations such as adventure, the moving from old to know and the grass is always greener on the other side.
We next see the kids leaving the house. This turns to a window shot of the mother looking out. We can just make out her expression, she appears to be worried about. The reflection however conceals her expression which has a masking affect on her.
Once they are outside we see a wide shot. In which we can just make out the silhouettes of father and daughter at the top of the hill, but the boy is way behind. He is very reluctant to go out. This shows they boy and father don't have a close relationship, maybe because he knows what is about to happen. The lack of transport within this film once again conveys their status as they have to walk everywhere.
It next cuts to a slow tracking shot of a disused railways , which could be showing detachment of the family and the journey they are about to go on. This cuts to a close shot of father and daughter. In the background we can make out buildings. There is a definite contrast between where they are compared with the background, indicating their social status . Also within this shot the corners are blackened out which creates a lack of innocence. The mise-en-scene of lighting in this shot is brighter when compared with other scenes, showing moment of joyfulness but this is short lived.
As they approach the woman and children standing around the girl whom is about the same age as the protagonist. The boy than says to his sister 'you look like her' in which she replies that she doesn't' and mocks what they are wearing. From their regional identity of the accents we can gather they are from Scotland.
The 180 degree rule is used next between the woman and man. The woman says 'she was expecting more money from the man' in which he replies ' he only has a pound'. This instantly communicates child neglect as they are going out and he hasn't brought enough for the children. It also shows theme of poverty. This shot is followed by a close-up of him touching the woman's hair, but she moves away. Within the film both woman react when the proxemics are intimate because they know about the situation.
As they set of we notice the antagonist has dirty knees and appears to be in school clothes, where as our protagonist is not. Communicating themes such as education vs non academic. When they enter the pub the dad heads straight for the group of men drinking beer. Once again showing neglect as children have to play alone. The background sound heard within this scene is Christmas music, which is ambiguous as its happy and cheerful but doesn't reflect on characters mood. The two boys are fighting. The protagonist gets jealous because the other girl is sitting on her dad's knee. But from here we actually learn they are half sisters. Through girl's dialogue when she says 'my daddy's knee'. The film next goes into slow motion and the camera pans around the room, its as if its from the perspective of the drunken dads point of view.
As they leave we see silhouettes, it's like a family convention of a portrait which is ironic as they are far from it. The next shot is the most significant along with the other close-up of both girl's hands. Because at first we know the holding of hands is due to friendship but his soon changes will the next hand shot which seems forced and shows both jealously and anger. The final shot is of the protagonist picking up a stone in which she is about to throw it at the other girl. The stone symbolises hatred but is also a gesture which she has picked up from her brother and possibly her father.
The themes of neglect, responsibility, jealousy and betrayal are portrayed within Gas man but the overall the message of the film is you have just got to deal with your consequences and not hide them from the rest of your family because once it comes out it wont be good.
