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Nil By Mouth [1997]

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Search 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment by Ray Winstone Kathy Burke Charlie Creed-Miles Laila Morse Edna Doré Search Ray Winstone Kathy Burke Charlie Creed-Miles Laila Morse Edna Doré

List Price: £15.99 Amazon UK Price: £4.98 Released: 2004-04-19 Rating: More Details: Nil By Mouth [1997] Nil By Mouth [1997] @Amazon Nil By Mouth [1997] @aStore

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

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Customer Reviews:
Don't avoid this film because it sounds unpleasant.
I remember this film coming out accompanied by high praise, but I thought I'd give it a miss because it didn't sound like....entertainment.

However, This was a mistake; if you want to be fixed to your seat by superb, flowing direction and totally committed acting, you'll be entertained all right.

Although it's more a window on life than a fully worked out story, the depth of the performances brings with it a sense of a background to the characters, and there are glimpses of formative experiences, such as the story told by the lost teen of having an "All Stations" dog as a child, and coming back from hop picking to find it had been put down by his father. It's not commented on or laughed at by his friends. They are all the product of similar experiences.

I can't think of any other films where I've seen actors taking their profession so seriously. Your life will be enriched by seeing this.

The REAL Eastenders?
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.

Look in the Mirror and Wince
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
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'
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...

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