The first thing you notice about Rag Tale is, as everyone should know by now, its editing which is sporadic to say the least. But then again, I never heard anyone complain about The Bourne Supremacy and, with hindsight, the latest Bourne film 'Ultimatum' what with Greengrass' 'all over the place' approach to material that does demand urgency but not the sort that should solely rely on appealing to a crowd with a severe case of ADD. But, somewhat surprisingly, I enjoyed Rag Tale a lot more than I thought I would even if I had to look away from the screen as the film wore on due to the repetition of the insane visual approach director Mary McGuckian adopts.
I think there is a certain menace flowing throughout Rag Tale, a certain air of danger that you do feel could explode and come to the forefront at any point in the film. This is very much a British film revolving around a British-run tabloid newspaper and I would be very surprised if anybody overseas even has a sniff of a positive opinion on this film. But then again it would be too easy for anybody to label this 'junk' merely because of the camera work and editing. I was hoping the film would develop into something a little more than a mere 'fly on the wall' look at a British run tabloid newspaper and I sort of got what I wanted. The film dibs and dabs into a few stories, the primary two of which revolve around a man's affair with a woman who's the boss' wife and a stab in the dark attempt at a major scoop which threatens to bring down boss man Richard Morton's (McDowell) company and honour altogether.
But apart from being an uninteresting and somewhat obligatory story about a mere office love affair, the film paces these two stories and ties in the relationships between the other office workers during nights out as well as everything including friendships and feuds that occur within the office's space. But the situation involving Eddy Taylor's (Graves) affair with 'MJ' Morton (Leigh) is established in the exact manner you expect it to be before the gruff voice of Richard informs Eddy that he is onto him in a chilling warning that immediately makes the audience wary of that situation and the danger of that predicament; that the boss is onto him. It is a battle that will not let up and one that will contribute to the quite shocking ending after the final act.
But Rag Tale is a film of great 'Britishness'. The topics each character talk to one another about involve our Royal Family; bashing our Royal Family; the debate on foxhunting and the immigration into our nation of Eastern Europeans. Whilst the film never gets to a level that renders it political, the film does pause its narrative briefly to focus on a few scenes that critically knock the Royal Family whereas a few minutes later there are scenes which patch up the criticisms with another character offering an opinion on the Royals in a positive light. The most interesting thing to note here is that the sole character most concerned with the criticism of the Royals is MJ herself, the American.
As a newspaper, 'The Rag' of which Rag Tale is born epitomises the short, sharp and somewhat brutal nature of tabloid newspapers. Other papers such as 'The Sun'; 'The Star' and 'The Mail' are 'disposable once the day has finished'; short, sharp reads on the train going to work or wherever. The papers cover stories that appeal to specific demographic groups about celebrities and other such meaningless things. The aesthetic for this film is of a very short and cut-throat nature, echoing the industry and the times we inhabit right now when it comes to wanting what we want to read, when we want to read it - usually about the most meaningless of things to do with beauty, humour or petty politics and right now.
But the film does not get away without criticisms of its own. Rag Tale uses an old, age old idea revolving around an office affair perhaps disappointingly as its catalyst. It also allows us glimpses of newspaper cuttings on walls and information on television screens give us a glimpse of a story but nothing stone wall creating an ambiguous atmosphere in retrospect to timeframe, something I wished the film could've maintained. Alas, there is reference to President Bush and particular Manchester United Football Club players which 'places' Rag Tale in a specific period of time, that being late 2004 when a date on an email is revealed. Rag Tale will not be for everyone and I doubt anybody who's non-British will take to it; that said I doubt if many Brits. at all will take to it in a way, that is sort of a shame because despite the editing Rag Tale does have things on offer.
I think there is a certain menace flowing throughout Rag Tale, a certain air of danger that you do feel could explode and come to the forefront at any point in the film. This is very much a British film revolving around a British-run tabloid newspaper and I would be very surprised if anybody overseas even has a sniff of a positive opinion on this film. But then again it would be too easy for anybody to label this 'junk' merely because of the camera work and editing. I was hoping the film would develop into something a little more than a mere 'fly on the wall' look at a British run tabloid newspaper and I sort of got what I wanted. The film dibs and dabs into a few stories, the primary two of which revolve around a man's affair with a woman who's the boss' wife and a stab in the dark attempt at a major scoop which threatens to bring down boss man Richard Morton's (McDowell) company and honour altogether.
But apart from being an uninteresting and somewhat obligatory story about a mere office love affair, the film paces these two stories and ties in the relationships between the other office workers during nights out as well as everything including friendships and feuds that occur within the office's space. But the situation involving Eddy Taylor's (Graves) affair with 'MJ' Morton (Leigh) is established in the exact manner you expect it to be before the gruff voice of Richard informs Eddy that he is onto him in a chilling warning that immediately makes the audience wary of that situation and the danger of that predicament; that the boss is onto him. It is a battle that will not let up and one that will contribute to the quite shocking ending after the final act.
But Rag Tale is a film of great 'Britishness'. The topics each character talk to one another about involve our Royal Family; bashing our Royal Family; the debate on foxhunting and the immigration into our nation of Eastern Europeans. Whilst the film never gets to a level that renders it political, the film does pause its narrative briefly to focus on a few scenes that critically knock the Royal Family whereas a few minutes later there are scenes which patch up the criticisms with another character offering an opinion on the Royals in a positive light. The most interesting thing to note here is that the sole character most concerned with the criticism of the Royals is MJ herself, the American.
As a newspaper, 'The Rag' of which Rag Tale is born epitomises the short, sharp and somewhat brutal nature of tabloid newspapers. Other papers such as 'The Sun'; 'The Star' and 'The Mail' are 'disposable once the day has finished'; short, sharp reads on the train going to work or wherever. The papers cover stories that appeal to specific demographic groups about celebrities and other such meaningless things. The aesthetic for this film is of a very short and cut-throat nature, echoing the industry and the times we inhabit right now when it comes to wanting what we want to read, when we want to read it - usually about the most meaningless of things to do with beauty, humour or petty politics and right now.
But the film does not get away without criticisms of its own. Rag Tale uses an old, age old idea revolving around an office affair perhaps disappointingly as its catalyst. It also allows us glimpses of newspaper cuttings on walls and information on television screens give us a glimpse of a story but nothing stone wall creating an ambiguous atmosphere in retrospect to timeframe, something I wished the film could've maintained. Alas, there is reference to President Bush and particular Manchester United Football Club players which 'places' Rag Tale in a specific period of time, that being late 2004 when a date on an email is revealed. Rag Tale will not be for everyone and I doubt anybody who's non-British will take to it; that said I doubt if many Brits. at all will take to it in a way, that is sort of a shame because despite the editing Rag Tale does have things on offer.