Have you seen?: Nil By Mouth

We all are aware of the massive impact that British films have had on our cinema screens over the last decade. From such global British successes as Trainspotting, the Harry Potter films and the recent The King’s Speech, British cinema has made a rather impressive name for itself in the film industry worldwide. However, attaining such a status is an arduous process which has left many independent gems buried and forgotten in its wake.

One such overlooked art house film is Gary Oldman’s 1997 gritty drama Nil By Mouth. A realistic, semi-autobiographical depiction of life in the poverty stricken estates of South East London, this film is both poignant and shocking. It unflinchingly follows the ups and downs of a single working class family battling against the harsher realities of life. Raymond – a powerful, award winning performance by Ray Winstone – is the head of this family and the alcoholic, drug abusing, violent husband of Valerie – a stunning, award winning performance by Kathy Burke. As the film delves deeper into the dark and twisted lives of Raymond, Valerie and Valerie’s drug addict of a brother Billy, one becomes increasingly drawn in to the family’s day-to-day life to the extent that it is almost impossible to look away, even at the most traumatic and brutal scenes. The film is compulsively watchable and this is the key to the genius behind Gary Oldman’s work. Each character is so detailed and personally alive, not to mention superbly executed, that the film carries a sense of eerie verisimilitude which leaves a permanent imprint on your mind.

Oldman does not take the easy path of condemning the abuser and revering the victim, and so the viewer is compelled to empathise with each of the characters. Although not excused, even the atrocities committed by Raymond do not make him into a monster. He is depicted as a doting father to his daughter and in one exceedingly private scene; he reveals the unfathomable wound left by his father’s lack of affection. It is painfully distressing that, whilst all he strives for is to be loved and to not emulate the footsteps of his own alcoholic father, Raymond falls into the same path. The script serves to support these complex characters and talented acting. When asked by his wife why he hurts her Raymond replies “because I love you,” and in some ways we are forced to understand his twisted logic. Nothing is black and white in this film, and you get a sense that it probably caused Oldman pain to depict such realistic memories from his childhood.

Never is this more clear than in the infamous scene in which Raymond, in a drunken fit of jealousy, attacks his pregnant wife. Despite the violence being out of the frame, the scene is so vivid and the build up so tense that it never fails to leave the viewer unmoved. Yet the film is not just violent outbursts and uncomfortable suspense. The affection between the characters serves to fragment the more intense scenes and it is at these moments that the film really displays its artistic charm. Oldman uses the stunning urban cinematography of the concrete-jungle estates and a soundtrack that was made specifically for the film to convey the unbreakable ties that one suspects are the only lifelines keeping these characters afloat in a sea of hardships.

Like life, Nil By Mouth does not have a neat ending; it does not wrap everything up nicely. As the door closes in the final scene and the window into Ray and Valerie’s life is shut, we imagine the characters continue the same struggle. Conversely, it is as if the film does not alter the lives of the characters, but instead transcends the cinema screen to affect the audience. It leaves the viewer with a profound sense that whatever happens, life goes on and you can only make do with what you have.

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