Main Cast: Bob Hoskins, Dexter Fletcher, Zoe Nathenson, Dave Hill, Ian Dury
Release Year: 1989
Country: UK
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Actor Bob Hoskins made his big-screen directorial debut with the British Raggedy Rawney. The time is World War II: a band of gypsies, roaming a country that looks and sounds suspiciously like England, give shelter to Dexter Fletcher, a soldier who has deserted an army comprised of plunderers and rapists. Gypsy leader Hoskins, confused by Fletcher's seemingly lunatic behavior (which can be explained in the context of the picture) becomes convinced that the deserter is conjuring powers that will bring his tribe good luck. The exact opposite happens, leaving Hoskins and his followers at the mercy of the marauding army. The film has the logic of a horrible dream, but it isn't exactly a horror tale. It has moments of offbeat humor, but it's not a comedy. The characters and events are exaggerations of real life, but the film isn't a satire or lampoon. What, then, is Raggedy Rawny. Like we said at the beginning: Raggedy Rawny is the big-screen directorial debut of actor Bob Hoskins.... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Garth Thomas - Associate Producer, Irene Lamb - Casting, Theodor Pistek - Costume Designer, Bob Hoskins - Director, Alan Jones - Editor, George Harrison - Executive Producer, Denis O'Brien - Executive Producer, Michael Kamen - Composer (Music Score), Jiri Matolin - Production Designer, Frank Tidy - Cinematographer, George Harrison - Producer, Bob Weis - Producer, Denis O'Brien - Producer, David John - Sound/Sound Designer, Bob Hoskins - Screenwriter, Nicole de Wilde - Screenwriter
The Raggedy Rawney is a 1988 Britishdrama film starring Bob Hoskins, Dexter Fletcher, Zoe Nathenson, and Zoe Wanamaker. The story is about a young army deserter (Fletcher) in an unspecified time and country, who disguises himself as a madwoman and joins a nomadic gypsy caravan. The film involves the themes of the destruction and futility of war, the culture of the Roma people, and the bonds generated by love and family. The film was also co-written and directed by Bob Hoskins. Musician Ian Dury has a small role as a character named Weazel. The movie marked Hoskins' debut as a director.
The film centres around the character of Tom, a young army recruit in an unnamed time and country (presumably World War II-era Eastern Europe) who deserts after an artillery barrage kills his sergeant, in the process blinding a sadistic officer who tries to stop him. He is shellshocked into muteness and takes refuge with a traveling gypsy caravan, led by Darky (Hoskins). Among the principle members of the clan are Darky's mentally disabled son, Simon, Simon's mother Elle (Wanamaker) who harbors a grudge against Darky, and Darky's only daughter, Jessie (Nathenson), who forms a romantic bond with Tom, eventually becoming pregnant by him. In order to avoid arrest and execution by the army, Tom disguises himself as a "rawney," described in the film as a kind of "magic" madwoman, who (in the gypsy culture) is able to see the future and can control animals. Frightened at first, Darky befriends the "rawney", thinking him/her to be good luck, but soon Darky is revealed to be a flawed leader, unable to protect his clan from war, and beset by family turmoil which is exacerbated by Tom's presence. Throughout the film, the army and the partially blinded officer is a menace, threatening the Gypsies' way of life and those who befriend them. In a moving finale, the army corners the gypsy clan, managing to hold them off with meager rifles and pistols long enough to enable the young members of the clan, including Tom and Jessie, to escape, at the cost of their own lives.
