The Rat Catcher

Well now, I had not heard about this 2023 Netflix short film titled "The Rat Catcher" from director Wes Anderson prior to sitting down to watch it. And truth be told, I thought it was an animated short film actually.

I have to say that the "The Rat Catcher" turned out to be a rather unique and enjoyable viewing experience. The story, as written by Roald Dahl and interpreted by Wes Anderson, was oddly entertaining and enjoyable. And the way that it was brought to the screen was some of the most memorable display I have seen in a long, long time.

There are three people on the cast list; that being Richard Ayoade, Ralph Fiennes and Rupert Friend, and some doing some stagehand performances as well. I rather enjoyed the performances of the three actors with speaking parts. And there was just something very unique about it as well, which made it rather memorable and outstanding.

I was genuinely surprised with "The Rat Catcher", and while it is certainly not something that will just sit easily with everyone in the audience, then this is certainly a short film that I would recommend you to sit down and spend 17 minutes on. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained by this unique piece of cinema.

My rating of "The Rat Catcher" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Garage owner Claude has a rat problem. He hires an expert to deal with the problem. The Rat Man is truly an expert in his field to the point of resembling a rat himself. While Claude and his employee are fascinated by his methods they are also quite unsettled by him.

Another of Wes Anderson's four-episode short story-series, all adaptations of Roald Dahl stories. The others in the series are The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan and Poison.

Wes Anderson adapting a Roald Dahl story seems a perfect combination: the clever innocence of Dahl's writing, Anderson's whimsical, stylised direction. It's been done before, to great effect; 'Fantastic Mr Fox' (2009) was brilliant.

Having already watched two of Anderson's Roald Dahl-based short films, the style and presentation of the films are a given. A quirky, reasonably engaging story, narration with the narrator talking in short, bullet-point-like sentences, highly-stylised backdrops and props, great performances (in this case from Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade).

A less positive aspect has been that while the story is engaging, it has no punchline. It simply fizzles out. The Rat Catcher is no exception.

Here it is a touch worse in that the story never really seems to fully get going anyway. At least the other two had a fair degree of momentum.

Still, it's interesting and watchable enough.

The Ratcatcher lacks the emotional weight of the other Roald Dahl shorts but it remains a beautifully crafted short film that contrasts its visual beauty with a generally creepy nature and some unexpectedly violent imagery in its closing moments.

Making up for being underutilised in Henry Sugar, Richard Ayoade gets so much more here as the narrator and fulfils the missed potential. Between his funny yet off-putting Ratcatcher and once again closing the short as Dahl himself, Ralph Fiennes shows his incredible versatility.

Wes Anderson continues to craft beautiful worlds and briefly returns to his stop motion skills. As with Poison, he also continues to break some new ground with these, using his usual style to showcase some impressive horror sensibilities.

"The Rat Catcher" is the latest addition to Netflix's Roald Dahl collection, offering a delightful tribute to Dahl's peculiar storytelling. Narrated by Richard Ayoade and featuring performances by Ralph Fiennes and Rupert Friend, the story follows the enigmatic Rat Man's arrival in a quaint village to deal with a rat problem. Wes Anderson's distinctive style elevates the narrative, with the first half showcasing his signature filmmaking techniques. However, it's the second half where Anderson's creative use of lighting, shadows, and animation truly shines. Inspired by a Dahl short story, the film captures his unique storytelling style and concludes with an intriguingly ambiguous ending. "The Rat Catcher" is a captivating 15-minute short that keeps viewers engaged and offers a fresh perspective on liquorice. It's a must-watch for fans of Dahl's whimsical tales and Anderson's cinematic artistry.

...and yeah, I'm glad I did. At 1.25x the speed, the experience was worth the 17 minutes. Happy customer here.

Sorry that I no longer buy Wes Anderson's seemingly-genuine tricks. Life Aquatic was great but anything other than that, I could live without.

As for this one: Yep, there's artistic value in his approach. But so what? Any film-tv student can do this much. Problem is, you need a pumped-up name in order have your simple solutions be valued. It takes Wes Anderson to propose such experimental shorts to whoever is gonna be in on them. And yeah, the result is satisfactory.

The cast works and I believe Roald Dahl would be happy with the outcome had he been around to see how miserably certain other adaptations do.