Critique: Film> Reviews.

Aside from being second in the history books for most occurrences of the word "fuck", Nil By Mouth is an incredibly powerful portrayal of director and writer Gary Oldman's experiences growing up on a London council estate.

Oldman's authentic (seemingly improvised) screenplay is given the treatment by Ray Winstone's powerful performance as the foul-mouthed, substance-abusing husband, who beats and verbally abuses his pregnant wife, Kathy Burke (who is also very impressive in her role).

But aside from being just a pointless exercise in violent filmmaking, Nil By Mouth explores the deeper issues of poverty and one man's inability to convey his feelings, and how these have an effect upon the family lifestyle. The film is admirable as it exposes the emotional vulnerability beneath Ray’s physical behaviour, but does so in such a way that it wants us to despise him even more. Thankfully, it avoids the preachy concept of a neglected, father-less figure being the real victim here.

Oldman's film was made as a wake up call. The theme of domestic abuse may not be something that affects most of us, but there is no doubt that it is still a reality. Nil By Mouth presents this despair and hopelessness in an incredibly horrifying manner that is believable to the audience. Because of such, I warn you, the graphic nature of the scenes may be too startling for some.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.