Nil by Mouth
The family of Raymond, his wife Val and her brother Billy live in working-class London district. Also…
- Director:Gary Oldman
- Genre:Drama
- Runtime:128 minutes
Cast
Ray Winstone : Ray
Kathy Burke : Valerie
Charlie Creed-Miles : Billy
Laila Morse : Janet
Edna Doré: Kath
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The film opens with the main characters in a local pub. There is clearly tension between Valerie, who sits with her mother and friends, and Ray, Valerie’s partner, who sits with his friends. The message of the film is clearly set here: the worlds of men and women are separate. Mark tells a crude but funny story and Ray tries to join in with it.
While this is going on, Billy is trying to buy drugs outside a Laundromat.
The next main scene sees Valerie, Ray and their daughter Michelle at home with Bill (Valerie’s brother) and their mother Janet and one of Ray’s friends Mark. It is significant that the non-stop torrent of swearing in this film continues in front of Michelle who is about 7 years old. When Bill enters, he speaks affectionately to Michelle who barely responds. In the entire film she doesn’t speak and this is virtually the only acknowledgment of her existence by any adult and is effectively the only suggestion of affection by anyone for her.
Ray, Mark and Bill go for a night out. Janet asks Valerie where Ray is going and she says that she doesn’t know or care. The men go to a casino and strip club both of which they find equally as fascinating as the fatality that they witness on their way home. This implies that they are sufficiently desensitised by life to only be thrilled by gambling, sex and violence.
Back at the flat, Bill steals Ray’s drugs and is then savagely assaulted by Ray who bites his nose and throws him out of his and Valerie’s flat. Bill spends the next few days sleeping rough and then goes to live with his grandmother and mother who lends/gives him money for drugs. In a touching scene, she silently watches Bill injecting himself in the back of her van.
Bill becomes increasing desperate for money, becoming insulting to his mother who refuses to give him any more money. Later he breaks into Ray and Val’s flat to steal things to sell for drugs. When Ray is aware of what Bill has done, he (and Valerie and Michelle) go to Janet and her mother’s flat to see if Bill is there. There is particularly unpleasant bout of anger and swearing where everyone gives as good as each other. Read more
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