Nil By Mouth

Actor Gary Oldman's directorial debut Nil by Mouth is an autobiographical tale based on his early years in South London. It's a hard, gritty film which tells a tough tale of drug abuse, alcoholism, violence and social deprivation.

Using a hand-held camera and closeup style, the film is shot guerilla style, with no fancy lighting set ups or sweeping tracking shots. The realistic character portraits and fly-on-the-wall documentary feel of the direction grip you from the start.

The film opens with Raymond (Ray Winstone) joking with his friends, as well as his wife Valerie (Kathy Burke), and Valerie's brother-in-law Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles).

The film moves through an urban landscape of city streets, late night shops and high-rise flats. Ray and his Mick Jagger look-alike best pal Mark (Jamie Forman) go out boozing and whoring. After being attacked by Raymond, Billy steals from the family to finance his habit, then in a horribly poignant scene injects himself while his mother looks on. Later the pregnant Valerie is beaten by her drunken husband.

This is powerful, harsh and realistic cinema that paints an unsettling picture of a group of working class people coping with life in a rough urban setting.

The acting is excellent. Kathy Burke and Ray Winstone are especially good. But the performances from the rest of the cast are strong too. The rage, desperation and warmth displayed by these characters is all too believable.

As mentioned, the film is based upon Gary Oldman's early life in South London. He dedicates the film to his father. Indeed, there are a lot of personal touches to be found. The actress who plays Janet, billed as ``Laila Morse,'' is the actor's sister; her stage name is an anagram of ``my sister'' in Italian. When Kath sings ``Can't Help Lovin' That Man'' over the closing credits, the voice dubbed onto the track belongs to Oldman's 75-year-old mother. And a chair in the film is the same one his father sat in while drinking at home.

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