Nil By Mouth (2-Blu-ray disc) (Limited Edition)

Product Information

Burke, Morse and Edna Dore as Kath (Val’s nan, Jan’s mum) all give world-weary yet ultimately ‘survival at all costs’ performances. On both sides of the family the men (from stories told and reminiscences) have been hopeless, work-shy alcoholic bastards, while the women worked, brought up the kids and put up with the beatings and other women.

Talent Is Worth Trusting" producer Douglas Urbansk in conversation with film critic Geoff Andrew (2022) (15:34) Extras on this crisply restored BFI Blu-Ray include deleted scenes, storyboards and a detailed audio commentary. There are unimpressively shot interviews with Oldman, Urbanski, Winstone and Charlie Creed-Miles, who made his acting debut as a young drug addict. Fresh out of drama school, he clearly benefitted from a director who understood that long rehearsals, on the actual sets and locations, would produce the most realistic, convincing performances when the camera rolled. Nil by Mouth caused a considerable stir on its release. Twenty-five years later, the dust may have settled a little, but it remains a raw, vital film of its time, particularly as Gary Oldham has yet to follow it up. No complaints about an excellent BFI release.People Were Queuing For Any Role: Sue Jones on Nil by Mouth (2022, 16 mins): the film’s casting director recalls her work on the film Fearing the Worst: Charlie Creed-Miles on Nil by Mouth(2022, 28 mins): the actor discusses his role as Billy, from his audition to some of the key scenes in the film As mentioned above, Nil by Mouth was shot on Super 16mm, and has been restored at 4K from the original 16mm negative (A and B rolls) and a 35mm interpositive. The aspect ratio is the intended 1.66:1 (though I suspect many British cinemas would have cropped the image to 1.75:1 or 1.85:1). While Oldman and Fortunato have gone what might look like maximum fly-on-the-wall realism, with grain to match, there's an aestheticism at work too, in the colours, in the costume and production design.

Gary Oldman revealed himself as a filmmaker of uncompromising talent with Nil by Mouth, his debut and so far only directorial feature. Set on a council estate in New Cross, south east London (the area where Oldman himself grew up), a dysfunctional family encounters domestic violence, drunkenness, drug addiction and petty crime. Featuring career-best performances from Kathy Burke (winner of Best Actress at Cannes), Ray Winstone and Charlie Creed-Miles, all superbly supported by Laila Morse and Jamie Foreman, Nil by Mouth was awarded Best British Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 1998 Bafta awards. Nil By Mouth" was first screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 8th, 1997. Kathy Burke received Best Actress at the festival. In addition, Oldman would win a director's award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, three wins at the British Independent Film Awards with Best Performance by a British Actor in an Independent Film for Winstone, Best Performance by a British Actress in an Independent Film by Burke, as well as Most Promising Newcomer in any Category for Laila Morse, who made her debut in the film and also happens to be Oldman' sister. It also received two BAFTAs, with thea Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film and Best Original Screenplay for Oldman. It would receive a theatrical release in the UK from October 10th, though it was not particularly a box office sensation, as well as its release in other countries. While it was critically lauded all around, the small independent film was never given wide distribution in any country and word of mouth was well... nil. Oldman remarked that after showing the film to director Elaine May in a rough cut form, her companion at the time said he thought it was amazing and would never want to watch it again. Indeed the film is not easy to recommend for audiences as it is not the easiest watch, leaving a number of uncomfortable tastes that linger. While it would receive home video releases on DVD in some countries, it was a film that many were not able to experience. While there was praise it seemed to get overshadowed by the record breaking number of expletives rather than people seeing the film for its technical merits. Twenty-five years later, the film is being given its rightful place in cinema. Not just a one-shot film by Oldman in his so far only film as director, but as a lauded and influential piece of British filmmaking, continuing the tradition of filmmakers such as Ken Loach and Alan Clarke who pushed the boundaries of bleak yet hopeful realism cinematically. Considering the usual quality of their booklets, I have no doubt it’s a stellar inclusion, but I will provide an update when I get a copy. Even without the booklet, it’s still an impressive collection of material covering the film and its production, BFI going all out in gathering everyone they can to discuss it. Closing An uncompromising, double-Bafta winning portrait of a particular milieu of working-class family life in southeast London, where its writer and director grew up, NIL BY MOUTH is a powerful, astute, authentically foul-mouthed account of unfettered machismo, booze and drugs, petty crime and domestic abuse. All the performances are amazing. It was Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke’s finest hour, with all the supports giving a similar one hundred percent conviction. Some films are merely acted. This one is intensely lived. Nil by Mouth makes up for so many old British films that patronised working class characters. It might be dark, raw and depressing but not without humour. The angry tone of Nil by Mouth set a new benchmark for social realism in the British cinema of the 1990s.The whole of the Terence Davies Trilogy has been released on DVD by the BFI, but not on Blu-ray. What the (I suspect, commercial) likelihood of it seeing an upgrade, now that nearly half of its running time has turned up as an extra on another release, remains to be seen. People Were Queuing For Any Role (2022, 16 mins): casting director Sue Jones recalls her work on the film This new interview has casting director Sue Jones on the casting and auditions, from Oldman's involvement reading with actors, her recollections of the performances, and more.

Set on a council estate in New Cross, south east London (the area where Oldman himself grew up), a dysfunctional family encounters domestic violence, drunkenness, drug addiction and petty crime. Featuring career-best performances from Kathy Burke (winner of Best Actress at Cannes), Ray Winstone and Charlie Creed-Miles, all superbly supported by Laila Morse and Jamie Foreman, Nil by Mouth was awarded Best British Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 1998 Bafta awards. Children (1976, 46 mins): written while still a student, Terence Davies’ film is the first in his ‘Trilogy’ series and has an uncompromising honesty that is echoed in Nil by Mouth Fearing the Worst: Charlie Creed-Miles on Nil by Mouth (2022, 28 mins): the actor discusses his role as Billy, from his audition to some of the key scenes in the film Children (1976, 46 mins): written while still a student, Terence Davies’ film has an uncompromising honesty that is echoed in Nil by MouthI Missed The War (Gary Oldman, 1994): the only surviving footage recorded for an unrealised documentary about his mother’s life and experiences The performances are mesmerising throughout, with Ray Winstone as the volatile and self-pitying Ray, Kathy Burke (who won Best Actress at Cannes) as his longsuffering wife Val and Charlie Creed-Miles as her junkie brother Billy. Shot and scripted in a deceptively casual realist style reminiscent of John Cassavetes, this profoundly personal and humane film eschews sensationalism and sentimentality to illuminate a vicious circle of abuse and criminality. A dark but dazzling masterwork. The Inspirations Behind Nil by Mouth", by Philip Kemp, takes the form of an interview with Oldman, who goes through his various influences. Top of the list given the country he comes from, would be the social realism of British directors like Tony Richardson, Ken Loach, Alan Clarke and Mike Leigh. (In fact, Oldman has worked with the latter two.) Then there was Pier Paolo Pasolini, via his then wife Isabella Rossellini. And John Cassavetes: Oldman and Ron Fortunato watched The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Oldman goes into detail about the use of colour in it, especially the ending.

Gary Oldman revealed himself as a filmmaker of uncompromising talent with Nil by Mouth, his debut and so far only directorial feature. Set on a council estate in New Cross, southeast London (the area where Oldman himself grew up), a dysfunctional family encounters domestic violence, drunkenness, drug addiction and petty crime. Mother (Gary Oldman, 1994, 7 mins): the only surviving footage recorded for an unrealised documentary about his mother's life and experiences

Doormat Navigation

This was my first time seeing the film and I thought it was incredible. It's hard to believe it only won 2 BAFTAs, until you remember that The Full Monty also came out that year and beat it in many categories. Less clear is how it got zero Oscar nominations, since it released in February 1998 in the USA and so wasn't competing for Oscars with The Full Monty, but then again, Oscars don't often go to films released early in the year and 1998 was the year Shakespeare in Love best Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture, so it was not the the Oscars' finest hour. Urbanski talks about how he met Oldman, hitting it off with him immediately, and became and remains Oldman's producer partner. He doesn't pretend to know what is going on in Oldman's head, but sometimes, he says, talent has to be trusted. He distinguishes between interpretative artists (actors, musicians etc) and originating artists (such as writers, directors) and in this case Oldman's urge to be other than his usual role for a change. He does regret that the film got an arthouse release so that those whom the film was about didn't get to see it. When the movie premiered at Cannes, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and Kathy Burke, playing Ray Winstone’s beleaguered wife, won Best Actress. More awards were to follow but although Oldman hoped that Nil by Mouthwould be “my path off… and the beginning of a directing career so I could retire the acting”, it was not to be. Other scripts and projects, including a long gestated biopic about the life of photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge, have stalled over the years.