‘A landscape’, is how Sight and Sound described the face of Ray Winstone who plays the lead as Ray in Gary Oldman’s directing début Nil by Mouth. A landscape reflecting the bored violence of the grey flat blocks of South-East London. In the opening scene we see that ‘landscape’ in close-up when Ray orders a round in the pub. He and his buddy Mark engage Billy, the junkie brother of Ray’s wife Valerie, for some shady business. Their plan is successful and to celebrate, they go out for the night: drinking, gambling, to a strip club more drinking. Next morning, Ray suspects Billy of stealing drugs from him and beats him up. Billy refuses to confess. When his mother is no longer able to finance his addiction, Billy breaks in to Valerie and Ray’s house. Valerie has had enough of Ray’s violent behaviour and his friends. But she still can’t leave him. Not even when he beats her up and makes her have a miscarriage because he suspects her of being unfaithful.Nil by Mouth can be regarded as an autobiographical film, in which the daughter of Ray and Valerie represents the young Oldman. He tells his grim story with great affection and humour and without moralising. That makes Nil by Mouth an alarming film, but one that is eventually hopeful. Oldman asks and gets a lot from his actors, of whom Kathy Burke (the heroic, dogged housewife Valerie) won the prize for best actress at Cannes.
