Nil By Mouth
Rearrange the following in any way you want and write your own opening paragraph, "gritty, East London, hard-hitting, fantastic acting, realistic, violent, junkies, drink, love and hate."
Rearrange the following in any way you want and write your own opening paragraph, "gritty, East London, hard-hitting, fantastic acting, realistic, violent, junkies, drink, love and hate."
Ray Winston plays Ray the hard living husband of Kathy Burke's Val, an abused and downtrodden woman pregnant with their second child. Within the circle of characters is Val's brother Billy - who stays with Val and Ray until Ray almost bites his nose off - her mother, her grandmother, and various subsidiary friends and family. Written and directed by Gary Oldman, it's more a character driven snapshot than a plot driven story, perhaps autobiographical in nature, although we never find out.
You see, all you get on this disc is the movie ... nothing more. Other than chapter selections and subtitles (for American viewers as much as hearing impaired) there are no extra features, not even a trailer. Perhaps I'm asking too much, but a director's commentary would have made this an essential purchase rather than a digital alternative to the VHS version. A short making of, or interview would have given a little insight into the background or thinking behind the films creation, but unfortunately, we're left in the dark. The quality of the transfer and audio track are not worth bothering about. I'm sure it's crystal clear, but as the original was filmed through a fug of smoke, blood and sweat, it's not something that's going to matter much.
The almost documentary-style look at a few months in the lives of an extended East London family shows how violence, crime and love exist on the same, unnoticed emotional level. It shows graphic violence, drug use and spousal abuse that can be difficult to watch, but that's not what hits home the hardest, it's the universal acceptance of these acts as part of everyday life that makes the film stand out. The mother taking her son to buy drugs and allowing him to shoot up in her car, the jokes about prison, the casual way death is talked about, about all contribute to the never ending cycle of love, hate and forgiveness that the characters seem trapped in.
The performances are superb. The person I watched this with said that she had to remind herself constantly that we were watching actors, not a reality TV show about the area we were in ... at the time I was living in East London. It felt so real as to be uncomfortable and the only way to stop that was to realise we were looking at a series of brilliant performances. Ray Winston played Ray to the extreme, only going over the top ever so slightly in the 'Willard in the hotel room' scene. Kathy Burke played the part of Val wonderfully, especially in a scene where she is away from Ray for the night, relaxed and smiling beautifully. It's almost immediately followed by a scene where her mother sees the aftermath of Ray's insane jealous rage and it's hard to believe you are watching the same actress. Her whole aura changes ... not just her appearance. The supporting characters again were so real as to be scary, but they weren't given as much room to play as Winston and Burke.
It's certainly not a feel good movie, but it does have its lighter moments, albeit so-dark-they-are-black lighter moments. It's not going to uplift you, may even depress you, but its a film that you will feel better for watching.
A film that will have you gripped from the start, but when it's over you'll sigh with relief. What more could you want? Well, EXTRA FEATURES!
This page has been read:
2933
times