Rag Tale Movie Review:


One of the overlooked factors in judging the quality of a movie is its shot length. As a (very) general rule of thumb, intelligent movies have a longer average shot length than stupid ones. This is, of course, something that you don’t have to think about much when you see a movie, because the director and editor are usually wise enough to choose what is appropriate, but nowadays you find more movies are going for shorter shots. About a third of the way into “Rag Tale,” I started counting the shot lengths (that I was doing this at all should give you an indication of the quality of the movie). I think it would be fair to say that the average shot length of “Rag Tale” is two seconds at the most. Is it even possible to develop momentum or characterisation with so many cuts? If it is, there is no evidence of it in this movie.

“Rag Tale” is a dark satire about a British tabloid newspaper called, I’m afraid, ‘The Rag.’ Its editor, Eddy Taylor (Rupert Graves), is having an affair with the assistant editor, MJ (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who is married to the chairman, Richard Morton (Malcolm McDowell). Morton finds out about the relationship at the start of the film, and Eddy, along with his staff (including characters played by Bill Paterson, Simon Callow and John Sessions), spends much of the movie trying to find a way to keep his job and, hopefully, pin some scandal on Morton in the process.

The movie’s writing is at times quite intelligent, although it has nothing but contempt for the characters. They are heartless and cruel and self-obsessed. An argument could certainly be made that the characters are like this because the movie is making a point, as is the story, which is at times ludicrous. But although applying intelligence when watching a movie is important, I believe you should never let your intellect get in the way of your aesthetic response.

So let’s think about what is happening there on the screen, rather than the ironic, satirical twists of the tale. The camera won’t sit still. The shots barely last two seconds. Occasionally, the camera changes angle and goes from colour to black and white. Perhaps half the shots in the movie are canted angles. I like nothing more than to discover a movie that can do something new with its visual style, but there is nothing new about this; they’ve been doing it in interviews on MTV for years, and it’s annoying even there. A frantic editing style and constant shaking and moving of the camera indicate a lack of trust that the material can stand up on its own. This movie may have the most irritating visual style I’ve ever seen in a movie, and I couldn’t allow myself to get into it at all. The cast is an impressive and accomplished one, but you’d hardly know it to look at this movie, because how much acting can you do if you’re being fragmented into one-and-a-half-second shots?

To give you a further indication of my interest in this movie, let me present you with the notes I took during the screening. On page one I wrote. ‘Why am I watching a music video? Global Media Inc., the Rag, oh please. MTV been doing this for years. Sun or Mirror?’ On page two: ‘Can’t develop momentum, shots too short. Has contempt for characters. I think I’m getting a headache.’ On page three: ‘Less than 2 seconds average shot. Canted shots, black and white, irritating.’ On page four I started playing noughts and crosses with myself.

Adam Whyte

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