Amazon.com: 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. One advantage of watching the movie on DVD, at least for non-British audiences: the chance to check subtitles against the heavily accented dialogue. --Robert Horton
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Depressing. No rating stars.
If you're interested in filthy language and the worst in people - go ahead and watch this. I had to stop after about 15 minutes. Keep your children away from it. I'm destroying the DVD.
Rating: - Nil by mouth... something to say...
by dane youssef
"Nil By Mouth" is the very first film written and directed by the great Gary Oldman, a seasoned veteran actor who has still yet to give a bad performance. Oldman grew up in the poorest ghetto of South London, where this film takes place.
And while this movie has been rumored and believed to be a semi-autobiography of Oldman's childhood and family (who wouldn't watch this movie and believe so?), Oldman himself has said that this is not him or his family.
Hey, I believe him. Although he grew up in this environment, he was not directly in the line of fire, if you follow me.
The film sets it's sights on a South London family that defines the term "domestic unrest." A woman, her husband, daughter, brother, their mother and grandmother. As well as the people outside their family who they are connected to.
Rating: - Harrowing Tale of Redemption
A brutal, harrowing film about domestic violence filled with the most swearing probably ever committed to film. Worth seeing for the amazing performances of the two leads, most notably the abusive husband played to perfection by Ray Winstone. Directed by Gary Oldman and loosely based on his own experiences growing up this is one childhood noone would want repeated.
Rating: - Unflinching look at Working-Class life in Blairite Britain
British cinema is thoroughly disappointing at the best of times. Its product seems to consist of either unbearably lightweight pap or wooden and earnest social commentary that bores with its incessant sermonising. Occasionally (i.e. once a generation) you may get a film like The Long Good Friday but these are far and few between. Seeing the average British film would make anyone think that here is a nation that hasn't a clue how to make a picture.
To those who might be of that opinion, I cannot recommend watching Nil By Mouth highly enough. It is a work of astonishing intensity and visceral power. It is quite unlike any British film that I've ever seen and so real and true is its portrayal of London working class life that it felt more like a '70s Pacino/De Niro movie like "Raging Bull" or "Panic In Needle Park" than what we have to come to expect from the British Film industry.
Digital
Life Shop
Gary Oldman items subject to availability. Some restrictions
may apply. VHS
Nil by Mouth presented by digi2005.com Digi2005.com is
an Amazon.com
Associate
Digital Life Music News:
Live Earth concerts aim to rally action against global warming
Citizen.co.za - ... Chili Peppers, Duran Duran, Foo Fighters, Black Eyed Peas and John Legend. The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Jon Bon Jovi, Roger Waters and Gore will take the stage at Giants Stadium outside New York. Angelique Kidjo, Joss Stone ...
more News
- Depressing. No rating stars.
- Nil by mouth... something to say... 
- Harrowing Tale of Redemption
