The Rat Catcher is the third of Wes Anderson's four Roald Dahl adaptations for Netflix. It's by far the most abstract of the group, and its ambiguity invites closer analysis.
The Rat Catcher (2023)
2023 | Maturity Rating:7+ | 17m | DramasA professional rodent killer takes center stage in this Roald Dahl adaptation from Wes Anderson's collection of four short films.
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend
My Thoughts
Roald Dahl stayed in Wisteria Cottage in Amersham in the late 1940s, where his main occupation was writing Claud's Dog, a cycle of short stories inspired by the area and its people. "The Rat Catcher" is included in this collection.
"Everybody's got rats."
- The Rat Catcher (2023)
The health department had sent in a rat catcher to deal with a rat infestation in a small village. The Rat Catcher is introduced as a man who resembles a rat yet speaks with boldness.
The rat catcher appeared suspicious as soon as he entered the frame. And the more he speaks, the more you realise how arrogant he is and how little he values other people's opinions. And it hit me when he said, "Everybody's got rats." Such bravado is usually associated with a fraud, a high-ranking official in a corporation or organisation, or even a politician.
I'm not implying that all people in power are that way. But you will encounter this type of individual in the corporate world, especially when watching the news. These are the people that refuse to accept no for an answer, refuse to recognise when they make a mistake, and believe they are always correct. And if he makes a mistake and everyone finds out, he displays his dominance.
The rodents outwitted the rat catcher in the narrative. The rat catcher enraged and clearly humiliated, resolves to compensate for his failure by performing feats for the two men. The first is by releasing his pet ferret on a rat and killing it. The second is the rat catcher himself killing the rat without using his hands.
I'm delighted Anderson chose this approach of putting actors with imaginary props because we didn't get to see the process. However, our imagination is quite powerful. It was terrifying thinking about it!
Perhaps this is the world Dahl saw while she was writing the story. To be honest, little has changed since then.
