‘Ragamuffin‘ is a short film designed to fit Ragamuffin song of band Silvers Pickups. It is not an Official Music Video but should rather be regarded as a work of passion or simply an exercise of skills.
The video is rich in visual effects, has good cinematography and nevertheless has dedicated actors who give their best to take on their parts as convincingly as possible in the absence of any dialogue. The pace of the film is well fit to the tempo of the melody while the scenic movement is especially thought to confer good dynamism to the story (see the running in the film). Another element important for the visual dynamics and with a powerful emotional impact having a motivational effect on the public are the spectacular camera movements.
Beyond its successful technical side however, ‘Ragamuffin’ also has a meaningful tone. The running of each character in the film is apparently done with a purpose: one is running for the things achieved out of passion, another is running for their romantic love and a third one is running for family. The running is very symbolic, pointing out to the struggles and hardships one has to endure and overcome in order to succeed. John Hanby’s short film mirrors back the man’s condition to strive for his aims. It makes one realise they need to keep on ‘running’ as fast and as hard as they can in order to reach their ambitions and objectives. Despite all the ‘darkness’ that the being might sometime feel surrounded by the effort of will must always sustain the struggle and desire to fight on and prevail.
It is interesting to observe that all the characters in John Hanby’s short video are dirty, untidy and wearing torn clothes. And so the ‘Ragamuffins’ are themselves. It is a battle against oneself, a confrontation with one’s own fears, weaknesses and flaws. The ‘running’ is therefore a mean and process of achievement as well as it is an escape from falling victim to the ‘darkness’ by not taking seriously our duty to achieve the best we can. The film suffers multiple interpretations showing the director’s interest to dig for meanings beyond the visual spectacle. We preferred the above one choosing to be optimistic but you are welcome to have a taste of ‘Ragamuffin’ yourselves, enjoy the show and come up with your own judgment.
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