Rat (film)
Encyclopedia
Rat is a 2000
Irish/British
/American
comedy film
directed by Steve Barron
. The film focuses on the transformation of a working-class man into a rat and how his family copes with the startling change.
) returns home and transforms into a rat. Hubert's family each have different views on him now that he became a rodent. His wife Conchita (Imelda Staunton
) thinks that this change is supposed to be a lesson to Hubert and that the reason he transformed is his own fault. Their son Pius (Andrew Lovern), destined for a religious life, feels that because his father is now an animal, his family should kill him. Their daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon
) feels that the rat is still her father and that they should treat him with love and respect.
After hearing the news of a man changing into a rat on the local radio, ghostwriter
Phelim Spratt (David Wilmot
) convinces Conchita to write a book of the story. Because Phelim wants to write about Conchita's bravery and the family's loyalty to Hubert in the face of adversity, he suggests that they take Hubert out to the pub and bookie to see his friends and to show the public that they are proud of him.
Conchita sends for her brother, Matt (Frank Kelly
), whom she describes as "a rock of sense". After telling the family all of the changes they will have to undergo, including Hubert's poor hygiene, unemployment, and unusual diet, Matt feels that Hubert would be more comfortable in a maggot factory with other rats. This decision is further solidified after Hubert bites Conchita on the finger.
After the family leaves him at the maggot factory, Hubert treks forty miles back to the house to be with his family on Christmas. With Hubert nearly dead from exhaustion, Conchita calls the doctor (Geoffrey Palmer
) and sends Pius to get Father Geraldo (Niall Toibin
) to perform the last rites
and an exorcism
. After the doctor tells Conchita to cool Hubert down because of his fever, they put him in the refrigerator. Father Geraldo then arrives and performs the exorcism and Hubert emerges from the refrigerator as a man.
Because Hubert turned back into a man, Phelim and Conchita are nervous that no one will believe their story. They decide to lock Hubert in his room and use a replacement rat for public appearances. However, Hubert's old flame and neighbour, Daisy (Veronica Duffy) becomes sceptical when she hears him yelling that he needs to use the bathroom and calls for the police to investigate. While Hubert is in the bathroom, he remembers that as a rat, he saw Phelim hide the manuscript of the book in a cupboard. He takes the manuscript and hides it in his shirt. When the family realize that Hubert should be away from prying eyes, Conchita goes to tell him that they are sending him to a mental hospital until the book comes out.
When the police arrive, Marietta finds a letter written by her father saying that he feels the same way that he did before he turned into a rat. A rat then runs out the door and the family chases it in the street. When they get the rat back, Phelim tries to put it in the oven and it bites him on the finger. Hubert then appears behind them as a man and explains that the rat Phelim is holding is Conchita. He says that when he bit her earlier, he felt something leave his body and enter hers. He then explains that instead of a book about the family's loyalty, Phelim has been writing about their thoughts of killing Hubert and plans to abandon him at the maggot factory. They throw Phelim out and tell him never to return.
Marietta is worried about her mother and Hubert says that she will turn back into a woman when she serves her time. The film ends with the family at the pub with Hubert and Conchita, now a woman again, singing karaoke. It also shows a rat in the pub that has an earring like the one that Phelim wears.
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
Irish/British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
/American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Steve Barron
Steve Barron
Steven "Steve" Barron is a director and producer, best known for directing the films Coneheads , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the innovative music videos for a-ha's "Take on Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"....
. The film focuses on the transformation of a working-class man into a rat and how his family copes with the startling change.
Synopsis
After his usual night of drinking at the local pub, Hubert Flynn (Pete PostlethwaitePete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
) returns home and transforms into a rat. Hubert's family each have different views on him now that he became a rodent. His wife Conchita (Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
) thinks that this change is supposed to be a lesson to Hubert and that the reason he transformed is his own fault. Their son Pius (Andrew Lovern), destined for a religious life, feels that because his father is now an animal, his family should kill him. Their daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon
Kerry Condon
Kerry Condon is an Irish television and film actress.She was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. Her roles include Victoria in Unleashed , and Kate Kelly in the 2003 film Ned Kelly...
) feels that the rat is still her father and that they should treat him with love and respect.
After hearing the news of a man changing into a rat on the local radio, ghostwriter
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
Phelim Spratt (David Wilmot
David Wilmot (actor)
David Wilmot is an award-winning Irish stage, screen, and television actor.Wilmot's theatre credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, As You Like It with the Druid Theatre Company in Galway, and Juno and the Paycock in London's West End...
) convinces Conchita to write a book of the story. Because Phelim wants to write about Conchita's bravery and the family's loyalty to Hubert in the face of adversity, he suggests that they take Hubert out to the pub and bookie to see his friends and to show the public that they are proud of him.
Conchita sends for her brother, Matt (Frank Kelly
Frank Kelly
Frank Kelly is an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career has covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the comedy Father Ted. He is the son of the cartoonist Charles E...
), whom she describes as "a rock of sense". After telling the family all of the changes they will have to undergo, including Hubert's poor hygiene, unemployment, and unusual diet, Matt feels that Hubert would be more comfortable in a maggot factory with other rats. This decision is further solidified after Hubert bites Conchita on the finger.
After the family leaves him at the maggot factory, Hubert treks forty miles back to the house to be with his family on Christmas. With Hubert nearly dead from exhaustion, Conchita calls the doctor (Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
) and sends Pius to get Father Geraldo (Niall Toibin
Niall Toibin
Niall Tóibín is an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter, Bracken, The Irish R.M., Caught in a Free State, Ballykissangel, Far and Away, and Veronica Guerin, and has...
) to perform the last rites
Last Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
and an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
. After the doctor tells Conchita to cool Hubert down because of his fever, they put him in the refrigerator. Father Geraldo then arrives and performs the exorcism and Hubert emerges from the refrigerator as a man.
Because Hubert turned back into a man, Phelim and Conchita are nervous that no one will believe their story. They decide to lock Hubert in his room and use a replacement rat for public appearances. However, Hubert's old flame and neighbour, Daisy (Veronica Duffy) becomes sceptical when she hears him yelling that he needs to use the bathroom and calls for the police to investigate. While Hubert is in the bathroom, he remembers that as a rat, he saw Phelim hide the manuscript of the book in a cupboard. He takes the manuscript and hides it in his shirt. When the family realize that Hubert should be away from prying eyes, Conchita goes to tell him that they are sending him to a mental hospital until the book comes out.
When the police arrive, Marietta finds a letter written by her father saying that he feels the same way that he did before he turned into a rat. A rat then runs out the door and the family chases it in the street. When they get the rat back, Phelim tries to put it in the oven and it bites him on the finger. Hubert then appears behind them as a man and explains that the rat Phelim is holding is Conchita. He says that when he bit her earlier, he felt something leave his body and enter hers. He then explains that instead of a book about the family's loyalty, Phelim has been writing about their thoughts of killing Hubert and plans to abandon him at the maggot factory. They throw Phelim out and tell him never to return.
Marietta is worried about her mother and Hubert says that she will turn back into a woman when she serves her time. The film ends with the family at the pub with Hubert and Conchita, now a woman again, singing karaoke. It also shows a rat in the pub that has an earring like the one that Phelim wears.
Cast
- Imelda StauntonImelda StauntonImelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
as Conchita Flynn - Frank KellyFrank KellyFrank Kelly is an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career has covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the comedy Father Ted. He is the son of the cartoonist Charles E...
as Uncle Matt - David WilmotDavid Wilmot (actor)David Wilmot is an award-winning Irish stage, screen, and television actor.Wilmot's theatre credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, As You Like It with the Druid Theatre Company in Galway, and Juno and the Paycock in London's West End...
as Phelim Spratt - Pete PostlethwaitePete PostlethwaitePeter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
as Hubert Flynn - Ed ByrneEd ByrneEd Byrne is a Perrier Award-nominated, Irish stand-up comedian, voice over artist and actor. He has presented television shows Uncut! Best Unseen Ads and Just for Laughs, and is a regular guest on various television panel games...
as Rudolph - Geoffrey PalmerGeoffrey Palmer (actor)Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
as The Doctor - Kerry CondonKerry CondonKerry Condon is an Irish television and film actress.She was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. Her roles include Victoria in Unleashed , and Kate Kelly in the 2003 film Ned Kelly...
as Marietta Flynn - Andrew Lovern as Pius Flynn
- Niall ToibinNiall ToibinNiall Tóibín is an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He has appeared in Ryan's Daughter, Bracken, The Irish R.M., Caught in a Free State, Ballykissangel, Far and Away, and Veronica Guerin, and has...
as Father Geraldo - Veronica Duffy as Daisy Farrdell
- Alfie as Mickey the Dog
- Peter CaffreyPeter CaffreyPeter Caffrey was an Irish actor best known for playing Padraig O'Kelly on Series 1-4 of Ballykissangel, but also well regarded for his role as a transvestite in the film , and ....
as Mick the Barman - Rita Hamill as Estate Woman
- Roxanna Williams as Hopscotch Girl
- Stanley TownsendStanley Townsend-Theatre:Townsend's work in theatre includes: Remember This, Guys and Dolls and Phedre at the National Theatre, London; The Alice Trilogy, Shining City , Under the Blue Sky and The Weir at the Royal Court, London; The Wake, Trinity for Two and Sacred Mysteries at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; The...
as Newsreader - Simon DelaneySimon DelaneySimon Delaney is an Irish television and theatre director, whose works include the RTE series Bachelors Walk as one of three bachelors living together in a flat on the quays in Dublin....
as Bookies Manager - Niall O'BrienNiall O'Brien (actor)Niall O'Brien was an Irish-born actor and member of the Abbey Theatre company. He was born in Dalkey village, Co. Dublin, and grew up in nearby Glasthule. He was educated at Presentation College at Westland Row, Dublin, before going on to join the Abbey School of acting.-Personal life:O'Brien...
as Man in Bookies - John O'Toole as Man in Bookies
- Jer O'Leary as Man in Pub
- Mick Nolan as Man in Pub
- Pat Kinevane as Mr. Reilly
- Mark Doherty as Barrister
- Arthur Riordan as Sergeant Black
- Michael Hayes as Young Garda