Synopsis
‘Of Rats and Men’ is a colourful documentary essay, with a hint of magical realism. A rat born and raised in the underground tunnels of the Amsterdam metro, is fed up with constantly being dismissed by human beings as dirty and disgusting. “It’s time for you to face the truth,” she states.
Through the rat’s eyes, we are taken on an adventurous ride across Amsterdam’s metro network. With sharp wit and playful humour, the rat observes the often-questionable behaviour of human beings. Among the people she encounters throughout her journey are a businessman trapped in the rat race himself, a fortune teller who spends her days foretelling the future of greedy money grabbers, and an archaeologist lamenting humanity’s carelessness, amidst the many artifacts he unearthed during the metro’s construction. “Humans are the real filth,” he says.
As the rat ventures further underground, it slowly but surely becomes clear that humans themselves – with their insatiable hunger for more, better, and faster things – actually display vermin-like traits themselves. “And then you’re calling me a pest?”, she scoffs. A sobering fable on the importance of contentment, wrapped up in a whimsical adventure. Yes. There will be rats… Lots and lots of rats.
Trailer
Credits
Director: Thomas Renckens
‘Of Rats and Men’ is a colourful documentary essay, with a hint of magical realism. A rat born and raised in the underground tunnels of the Amsterdam metro, is fed up with constantly being dismissed by human beings as dirty and disgusting. “It’s time for you to face the truth,” she states.
Through the rat’s eyes, we are taken on an adventurous ride across Amsterdam’s metro network. With sharp wit and playful humour, the rat observes the often-questionable behaviour of human beings. Among the people she encounters throughout her journey are a businessman trapped in the rat race himself, a fortune teller who spends her days foretelling the future of greedy money grabbers, and an archaeologist lamenting humanity’s carelessness, amidst the many artifacts he unearthed during the metro’s construction. “Humans are the real filth,” he says.
As the rat ventures further underground, it slowly but surely becomes clear that humans themselves – with their insatiable hunger for more, better, and faster things – actually display vermin-like traits themselves. “And then you’re calling me a pest?”, she scoffs. A sobering fable on the importance of contentment, wrapped up in a whimsical adventure. Yes. There will be rats… Lots and lots of rats.
Trailer
Credits
Director: Thomas Renckens
Editor: Nina Graafland
Cinematographer: Twan Peeters
Sound Recordist: Sofie van der Meer
Sound Designer: Tatiana Sanches
Composer: Natalia Tsupryk
Script coach: Saar Ponsioen
Colourist: Twan Peeters
Title Designer: Yon Matauko
Media Manager: Rob Maas
Accountancy: Mandy Posthuma
Commissioning Editor KRO-NCRV: Michiel Brongers
Production Lead KRO-NCRV: Zelda Nieuwenhuis
Line Producer: Manon Tsang
Creative Producer: Willem Baptist
Producer: Nienke Korthof, Willem Baptist
