sweetfebruary Kafka once wrote "i think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for?."Well, I do believe that we need not only this kind of books, but also this kind of remarkable music and movies that shocks us, affects us and makes everyone of us a little bit more human..'Nil By Mouth' is not a colourful picture was made to please us... It's one of the few movies that wake us up to face the real true world around us, this film is not a tale or a yarn, it's exactly the opposite of that, it's a story of a real work class family could be mine or even yours!. If not check up your neighbours and you will get what I mean.. The script is so smooth like you'ed almost forget that it's a film, the dialogue is just so spontaneous, unprompted and way far from any kind of platitude, which make it very easy to believe... I really think the script is the true star of 'Nil By Mouth' by its honesty and simplicity, because the whole story is from the real world out there where people trying their bests - in their different messed up ways- just to pass each and every day with the minimum possible losses.... every character is interesting to watch, and see what's going on deep inside of them and how they think and feel, why they are not doing anything to change their shitty reality , to move on, or maybe they're!. I just don't know. Raymond's talking about his father actually brought me to tears and I think it's one of the best moments I've ever seen on movies, it's just so honest, simple, direct, pure and unaffected.And not only the script, but also the direction is by the great Gary Oldman!! He's just natural... Ray Winston and Kathy Burke are brilliant!! Again thanks for Gary Oldman for casting them and bringing the best of them..I loved this movie and I believed it. I would love to see more from Mr. Oldman as a director and a screenwriter, and I think after 20 years of 'Nil By Mouth' being released now it's the time for him to give us another masterpiece

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) It's always a fun experience to watch an actors shift to the director chair. Such is the story behind Nil by Mouth, the directorial debut of Gary Oldman, one of the finest actors working today. Oldman himself does not appear in the film, but a whole collection of fantastic actors do instead. The film is a brutal story of a dysfunctional family living in London. This distraught and detached family struggles to stay together, having to battle one brothers heroin addiction, anothers short temper and violent tendencies, as well as the general debauchery that occurs within the lives of these people. This isn't a pleasant film and it isn't a happy film. It's a brutal depiction of London working-class districts and it will certainly disturb you to your core.The brutality of Nil by Mouth is unheard of. The film is a non-stop stream of cursing, graphic drug uses, and despicable violence. The film never lets up on the atrocity, leaving you no time to catch your breath. It's a fast moving film; one that doesn't stop to explain things and doesn't spell everything out for you. It's a completely character driven story with more character development in it than actual events occurring. Yet, enough happens to make the film plenty interesting. It slows down towards the middle as it sets up for its somber ending that leaves you with a strange and uneasy feeling in your stomach.Now, I'm always up for a great character driven story, but you have to be prepared for a lot going into Nil by Mouth. The thing is, the characters in this film are not likable in the least. They are the most despicable, deplorable, horridly atrocious people you've ever laid eyes on. Apart from them being sleazy and unattractive, they all possess the most unflattering personalities. The film presents a very strange family dynamic, having the characters constantly switch between love and hate for one another. Billy, the brother with the terrible heroin addiction, has his own mother give him drug money and also provides him with a place to shoot up. This seems like the most brutal form of motherly love until the two scream at each other a scene later, throwing the most horrendous profanities at one another. It is indeed some of the strangest relationships you could ever observe, teetering on being farcical at times, yet being sincerely compelling at other times.Overall, it is hard to become attached to the characters in Nil by Mouth. They certainly tell a fascinatingly twisted story, but don't expect to find any sympathy left in your heart when it's all over. This film disturbs me more than entertains me, but that is obviously the point. It is so harrowing and so horrendous that I can't guarantee you will want to watch it again once it's over. I'm not sure that I do, but I don't regret watching it by any means. Gary Oldman needs to try his luck with directing again one of these days, because his first attempt has gone pretty well.

DesbUK English actor Gary Oldman sunk $1.5 million of his own money into NIL BY MOUTH, a film he wrote and directed. It is an noncommercial film set in and around the London of his youth - a South London council estate where the sun never shines (these films always work best when shot in winter) and everything has a grey, washed out look to it.There's no real plot in NIL BY MOUTH. It focuses on villain Ray (Ray Winstone), his wife (Kathy Burke) and her brother (Charlie Creed Mills). The film often seems to consist of long scenes of people boozing, swearing and shooting up heroin. Much of the dialogue consists of the 'F' word used over and over again. Oldman does have an acute ear for discomforting dialogue (one character says of a woman he saw "getting a severe portion right up the f**king Gary") - it never sounds scripted and the whole film seems to happening spontaneously in front of the camera.Winstone delivers a career-best performance as the drunk Ray and Kathy Burke (who won the Best Actress prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for this role) wears an expression of down-trodden weariness on her face in every scene. When Ray beats her up in a drunken rage (she is pregnant at the time), it's a wince inducing scene complete with moans of pain from Burke. It's an astonishing moment that stays with you days, months, even years after you witness it. This is the underclass at its rawest and filmmaking at its rawest. It's grimness and imagery burns into your mind and once seen you'll find it difficult to shake or forget, a distinction it shares with Alan Clarke's SCUM - and Clarke was one of Oldman's stated influences when shooting the movie.

Tom Erik Høiås Not only is Gary Oldman one of the best actors ever, he is also a capable director/writer. this film is loosely based on Oldman's childhood. that fact is actually disturbing after watching the movie. i thought to myself, have i ever watched a movie with this much bad language? well i looked it up and here is a interesting fact :The word "fu.." and its variations are used 522 times, an average of 4.25 times per minute, a higher rate than any other film to date (March 2008), with the exception of the documentary Fu.. (2005), which holds the record with 824 uses of the word. The word "cu.." is used 82 times in this film. Ray Winstone impressed me with his performance. a genuine force of nature , or destructive nature sounds more right.