TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
Nil By Mouth [1997]
![Nil By Mouth [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RCE5V6KFL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £3.68 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Gary Oldman took a break from acting to write and direct this unflinching family drama out of the kitchen-sink British school. Oldman doesn't appear in the film, instead handing the heavy lifting to the remarkable Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Cold Mountain) and Kathy Burke, who won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her work. The scummy drug trade of lower-class London is Oldman's turf, but he puts special focus on the miserable cycles of violence that fuel a family's struggle within this world. The results are not always easy to watch, but they are devastating (and the final sequence is chilling). Oldman may be guilty of indulging his actors a bit, but it's forgivable, given the big, roaring performances. --Robert Horton
Editorial
Special Features
Editorial
Synopsis
Gary Oldman's directorial debut offers a gritty, profane look inside the mean streets of South London, where drug addiction, poverty and abuse hold sway. This is a semi-autobiographical picture of paternal anger and alcohol abuse from father Ray (a menacing and remarkable Ray Winstone), causing bouts of often unbearable tension and shocking domestic violence against his family. The son (Creed-Miles) is battling heroin while his weary resigned wife Valerie (Burke, in an incredible performance) tries to keep out of his way. A superb and cautionary tale of the downward spiral of self-destruction and tested loyalties, shot through with true humour. With a score by Eric Clapton and winner of the Best Actress award for Kathy Burke at the Cannes Film Festival.
The REAL Eastenders?
Review date: 2008-05-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
What can I say that hasn't been said?
This is a brutally honest movie, depicting the troubles befalling a dysfunctional family. Ray Winstone is astonishingly menacing as the abusive, drug and drink-addled husband, whilst Kathy Burke plays a blinder as the long suffering wife. You'll also recognise a few faces from Britain's most-watched soap, all spouting the kind of language they aren't allowed to on TV.
It's grim. It will make you cringe in places, and the unexpected (but truly inspired) conclusion leaves you pondering with chilling speculation on what might happen next.
Hard to describe this as entertainment, but it certainly is compelling.
Similar Products
Reviews
Look in the Mirror and Wince
Review date: 2008-02-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
I did fifteen years of therapeutic work with drug/alcohol users in Deptord and New Cross working with men and women who were involved in heroin, crack alcohol plus Temazepam and Valium etc.
During this period around 6,000 people from the local area came for some form of support and together we filled in the various forms/ triages/assessments.
This film provides a window into the soul of Deptford/New Cross/Bermondsey. If anyone ever asked me what it was like working in SE London, I would point to this film- we even used in training and deprogramming of therapeutic counsellors. Amongst other things if they could understand this film then they could understand the people coming for help.
I have read some of the reviews, (not on Amazon), that are almost unintelligible with their lack of empathy for what unfolds on the screen- this to me is more scary than the film- for all their faults, and these are many, these characters are human. There is a narrative to this film- but its akin to one of those 3d sketches that used to appear in the paper-in this case you either feel it or you don't.
If you are struggling to understand what is taking place or if you want to read more get a copy of "Beaten into Violence" it provides a key to the psychology of the film- its set in the same area and about the same people.
This provides a key to understanding to the male characters and their families- however understanding is not enough- what is really needed is the transformation of lives and the film defines the problem and creates the debate...
I WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THIS FILM
Review date: 2007-08-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is far from an easy movie to watch and is not really a good definition of `entertainment' (although it is disturbingly compelling). It's got about as much hilarity as `Monster's Ball', `Dancer in the Dark' and `Requiem for a Dream'.
There's not really a plot here. What we're looking at is a family in council housing - a poor, distraught family, torn apart by the people. Kathy Burke is Valerie, the long suffering wife of Ray (Ray Winstone). Ray is a drunken abusive man, haunted by his demons. He fights regularly with Valerie's heroin addicted brother, who cannot escape his own life style. Over this watches Valerie's mother, Janet, in a resigned fashion, lost to any real hope of something different. We get to spend some time with these characters, seeing how their lives develop. Unlike traditional movie structures we're not really building to a giant convergence of plot lines, a climatic final scene. Real life is not like that - it's a series of events, marked by occasions. This is the view the movie takes and it works well because it makes it far more credible than a final showdown involving a gun and a murder. What's even more interesting is that while Ray is `bad' he could not be quite considered evil - there's a darkness in him that he's fighting against. There's a great scene involving a telephone which brilliantly highlights how torn apart these characters are and how nothing is ever quite as simple as you would like to believe.
The acting is astonishing. I can't praise either Burke or Winstone enough. One of the reasons this movie is so unnerving is that the characters are believable - and this is due to the actors behind them. When Winstone's face becomes animated with range it really seems like he is ferocious, full of venom. You would race across the other side of the street from him, seeing the fury inside this man. Burke herself could have just played the demure wife but she adds far more complexity. Yes she is suffering, but there's a great hint of steel beneath her - shown in the delivery of a dialog, or the turn on a face. By not distracting us with pretty faces, director Gary Oldham manages to deliver actual characters. The energy - unflinching - delivered by them makes them seem horribly like people you know can exist within miles of your home.
Oldham himself shows a good directorial view. The movie uses a lot of hand-cameras (and presumably some unusual film stock) to get a grittier realism. This is aided by some excellent cinematography - the lighting is bleak, subdued, in keeping with the movie. Even the sunshine is pale, as if there's never really any hope to be had. The sound design is crisp, and generally minimalist - instead letting the camera and acting tell the story rather than forced manipulation via a composed piece. The set design also deserves a nod - the house around which a lot of the movie resolves has a real `lived in' feel. Too often Hollywood directors décor their house in a few luxury sofas and leave it at that. Here there's a real sense of a home with condiments and grit engrained in the walls. It all adds up the power. Ultimately though it is Oldham's unflinching depiction of the events that stands in the movies favour - the camera is close, it's there, you cannot escape through some banal metaphor (which is typical of most movies).
`Nil By Mouth' is more of an `experience' movie. It's a wrenching, arresting viewing that is sometimes very difficult to watch because you know there's a horrible shade of truth to it. It's not necessarily something you'd watch repeatedly (unless you've a shade of masochism to you), but it is something that will leave a little indelible mark on you as something to muse on. Definitely worth seeing - but be prepared. 8.1/10.
viewers be warned! from the author of 'The Boys from Baghdad'
Review date: 2007-07-30 Rating: 10 out of 10
This film is up there, wherever there is! Jimmy Geranties (Spelling er!!!) nose. The tops!!! As for the man Raymondo, another 'where's ya tool'. 'What tool?'. This f....ng tool' Bang. Good old honest 'life's sh.t then you die' Brit film (definately not a movie). Londons priviliged underclass on their bestest behaviour. Watch it, get over it, then watch it again and again etc.. etc...
An Emotional Rollercoaster of a Movie
Review date: 2007-07-17 Rating: 10 out of 10
This movie is shocking, depressing, grey and... an amazing must-see film (if you have a love of great film making, that is).
I very nearly turned this film off when I first started to watch it as I said it's depressing, grey and the swearing is intense, but so very real. I'm so glad I hung on in there, what unfolded was a portrayal of a poor, London based family self-destructing through alcohol, drugs, violence and crime fuelled by misery and abuse that you realise has been handed down through the generations. The characters were made so real by the amazing acting from all involved, that I had to remind myself that I wasn't a fly on the wall watching a real family in crisis. Ray Winston just blew me away with his portrayal of an out of control alcoholic with all his paranoia, frustration and hopelessness. I loathed this character and was horrified at his treatment of his pregnant wife Val (Kathy Burke), all witnessed silently by his young daughter. However, once he started giving us an insight in to his own childhood in a great post melt down monologue my loathing was quickly replaced by compassion for this man as it becomes clear that he's not a monster, he's a fractured soul doing only that which he knows to do to survive emotionally, carrying childhood pain that he has no idea how to deal with that overwhelms him.
All the main characters clearly have no idea what a healthy relationship looks like. Val (Kathy Burke) so worn down by life, snatching what little happiness there is, Janet (Laila Morse), Val's mum desperately trying to hold her family together, and a classic example of the abuse she'd been prepared to tolerate becoming the benchmark for her daughter of what to expect from marriage. She's also supporting her drug addict son and his £60 a day habit, who's so controlled by his addiction that he thieves, lies and verbally abuses those closest to him, but still manages to give glimpses of the gentle soul he could have been given different life circumstances.
The scene where Ray is in a full on drunken paranoid induced jealous rage dragging Val out of bed to row with her is unbelievable, you can actually see the spit coming from his mouth with the verocity in which he's screaming in her face, and the following scenes when he's in an alcoholic haze and clearly having a meltdown are outstanding.
This film is distressing, but with some amazingly powerful scenes, great dialogue and a cast that appear to be effortlessly acting their hearts out, it takes you on this unbelievable journey in to a toxic world, full of misplaced loyalties, snatched moments of perceived happiness against a backdrop of a poverty induced dark, miserable, hopeless place. Remember also that the story, written and directed by Gary Oldman, is based on his childhood experiences, growing up in the East-End of London with an alcoholic father.
I have a dilemma when it comes to recommending people to watch it due to the subject matter being so distressing and despressing but it's a great piece of cinema that would be a shame for people who love films to miss. This movie stayed with me for days after and even now years later has an impact when it comes to mind.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Kathy Burke
Charlie Creed-Miles
Laila Morse
Ray Winstone
Edna Doré
Creators:
Ray Winstone (Primary Contributor)
Kathy Burke (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036016636
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-04-19
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 123 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1998-02-06
Language: English (Original Language)