RATS - ABOUT THE FILM
(Additional information on RATS via links at bottom
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| "RATS" promises to be a film like none other -- part
documentary, part educational and part experimental. Interweaving
three story lines in an exercise in cinema verite and fact-letting,
RATS marshals all the power of a film-noir camera and a soundscape
audio mix to draw you into a multi-layered and sensual world. Here,
in this corner of America, life and death struggles are fought every
day, and the good does not always win. Here, just around the corner
in your home town, you'll take an eye-opening ride, straight to the
front lines of a festering urban conflict.
PART ONE: Life and Death on Willard Street The sounds of the city rise as we open on the alley behind Willard Street, NW -- you may recall the movie "Willard," the sequel to the 70's RATS horror classic "Ben." One problematic apartment building has fostered a rat colony of Biblical proportions. Attempts by frustrated residents to solve the dilemma have proven fruitless. An abundance of garbage has allowed the rat population to swell. At the heart of the problem is an ill-maintained and misused dumpster, the same dumpster that sets the stage for our stories. As night descends, the dumpster becomes a Mecca for hordes of hungry vermin. Squeaks and squeals punctuate the social positioning and frenetic acrobatics that fuel a universal cultural phobia: the night is coming alive with RATS. From inside the bustling RAT-topolis of this dumpster our camera records, maneuvering slowly toward a dark place that would make all but the most weathered Pest Control Managers cringe. Entering the walls of rat-infested apartments, we witness animals that are able to collapse their bodies down to the size of a quarter and invade the securest of dwellings. We view these living, breathing creatures as they go on about their routine, governed by the strict social hierarchy and emotional connectivity of their packs. From inside the dumpsters and burrows of Willard Street, we track the object of the battle being waged on man's closest animal neighbor. At ground-zero, Dr. David and his lover, Earl, speculate that bringing more gays to the neighborhood would solve the rat problem, while elsewhere the resident "rat-sniper" is taking more immediate and deadly action. Stationed on his second story balcony he paces and pontificates, waiting for the perfect shot. He explores both technique and intent -- from chumming to good sportsmanship. "They've got to do something about that dumpster and all the f***king trash." Then he motions to the dumpster with his gun -- his eye squints -- conversation stops -- the gun pops -- a direct hit -- a fatally wounded rat screams down Willard Alley -- it's rodent control by any means necessary. Unlike other urban rat documentaries, nothing in RATS was staged. The impossibly intimate footage of rats in the urban environment came only after months of shooting. It's an up-close look from inside their world. PART TWO: Where the Food Chain CollidesThe rumble of Billy and Joseph's shopping cart resonates off the hard brick walls and shining luxury cars of Willard alley. After a night of sniping and rat-packing the street is silent. Billy and Joseph are notorious in the world of "dumpster-divers" (a.k.a. garbage pickers.) They travel this alley almost everyday looking for the treasures lost or discarded by local residents. Joseph dives into the dumpster, his legs flailing in the air. Billy looks into the camera. "Its a pretty good living," he says with a gentle smile. Back on two feet, Joseph agrees, his Kenyan accent revealing itself. Instead of dealing drugs or stealing, these two homeless men are exercising their entrepreneurial spirit, making a living off what others have deemed useless. Itıs a profession as old as excess itself. As the Zen flow of RATS continues, we follow the lives of Billy and Joseph for the next several months. This very raw portrayal of life on the streets in our nation's capital puts a human face on the shadowy spirits who live with and among D.C.'s ever-growing rat population. Joseph points out the scar where he suffered his first bite from a rat. We witness moments of chemically-induced desperation. We see lives that include waking to rats underneath their blankets. "They crawl right up over your head to get inside those blankets on a cold night. They won't bother you a bit -- just crawl in and try to keep warm -- just like you. And when you move they just scamper out." And we come to know an existence where your next meal is found in the same dumpster the rats claim as their own. From the gifted to the insane, we spend time picking through the lives of the disenfranchised who spend their time picking through the abundant waste of our nation's capital. PART THREE: Trashed From the back of a dilapidated city garbage truck we hear of the rat horrors that city sanitation workers endure on a daily basis. But they have larger, more menacing concerns as well: "I can run from the rats all day long, but you can't run from the [D.C.] government, can't run from 'em." Aiding the rats in their battle for control of the nation's capital is a demoralized city sanitation force and an aging fleet of garbage trucks struggling to make their daily rounds. Metal screams as the dumpster on Willard Street shakes its cargo free into the hydraulic compressor of the garbage truck, swallowing with the refuse uncounted rats who were perhaps too full to make it home the night before. These rats are beginning their journey to one of D.C.'s worst environmental embarrassments: the trash transfer-station. Most residents are unaware what happens to refuse once it leaves their sight, but in almost all cases the trash transfer-station is where it ends up, awaiting transport to a landfill that may never come. In part three of RATS, we examine the politics of garbage
in D.C., where in the early 1990's regulations were relaxed and a new
"trash transfer-station" industry was born. About this time, the importing
of garbage from surrounding states also began. While trash transfer-stations
are a necessity and can be environmentally sound, D.C.'s stations are
nothing more than open dump sites. In addition to the gross ecological
disasters these sites have created, they have also spawned an intricate
ecosystem. As rats from all over the city are deposited along with tons
of garbage, transfer-station cross-pollination occurs and rat packs
grow into the thousands, spreading disease uncontrollably. As the three story lines merge, RATS begins to reveal the relationships in attitudes and events that have contributed to the proliferation of armies of rodents in Washington, D.C., the capital of the most prosperous nation in the history of mankind. As visually intense as its subject matter, RATS educates while offering realistic solutions to the problems created by our disposable society. All the while it ponders where the responsibilities lie. And in the process, the lowly rat becomes a symptomatic icon for the real culprit marring our urban landscape: our own waste. Fast-paced and hard-hitting, this cinematic work speaks to a wide audience and provides an experience of which it will be difficult to dispose. RATS - About The Film RATS - Press Room |