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

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Children (1976, 46 mins): written while still a student, Terence Davies’ film has an uncompromising honesty that is echoed in Nil by Mouth Mother (1994, 7 mins): the only surviving footage recorded by Gary Oldman for an unrealised documentary about his mother’s life and experiences Setting the Record Straight" Gary Oldman in conversation with film critic Geoff Andrew (2022) (50:56) Nil By Mouth" centers on one working class family from South London. There's Raymond (played by Ray Winstone) alongside his wife Val (played by Kathy Burke), their young daughter Michelle (played by Leah Fitzgerald), Val's younger brother Billy (played by Charlie Creed-Miles), their mother Janet (played by Laila Morse), and their grandmother Kath (played by Edna Doré). Raymond is not the best husband or father, frequently going out drinking and smoking with Billy and good friend Mark (played by Jamie Foreman) and not being able to control his anger at home. Billy is not coming into work as regulary as he should, mooching off his grandmother for money which immediately goes to hard drugs. Val is pregnant with her second child, yet her husband is not as attentive as he should be. With the bleakness of the family life, is there any hope for a better future for them? 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.

Finally, "Sole Credit" by Jason Wood, which explores the phenomenon of the One Film Wonder: director's who make just the one feature. In 2018, at Manchester's HOME, Wood programmed just such a season and some of the wide-ranging titles are listed – not just first and only features, but ones which "managed to craft something arresting, or in some cases spectacular". The booklet continues with Oldman's notes on the deleted scenes, full film credits and notes on and credits for the extras, the notes for Children by Terence Davies and reprinted from a Sight & Sound interview with Jennifer Howarth. summaryMother (Gary Oldman, 1994, 7 mins): the only surviving footage recorded for an unrealised documentary about his mother's life and experiences 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. 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. Talent Is Worth Trusting" producer Douglas Urbansk in conversation with film critic Geoff Andrew (2022) (15:34)

In honour of its 25th Anniversary this year, the BFI National Archive remastered Gary Oldman’s directorial debut, Nil by Mouth (1987) in 4K. Following its world premiere at the 66th BFI London Film Festival, Nil by Mouth was released in cinemas and on BFI Player at the beginning of November. On 5 December it comes to Blu-ray, released in a Limited Edition 2-disc set. Gary Oldman himself contributed to the special features and worked closely with the BFI on this release. A retrospective season of his films is currently taking place at BFI Southbank, running until 29 November. 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. Newly recorded for this release, at first this comes over as a Gary Oldman solo commentary, as Urbanski doesn't speak for nearly fifteen minutes. A quarter-century on, they talk about the look of the film and the benefits of shooting in Super 16mm, and members of Oldman's family as they make their appearances. It doesn't overlap too much with both men's separate interviews on this disc. 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 is released by the BFI in a two-disc Blu-ray edition, both discs encoded for Region B only. The film still has, and earns, the 18 certificate it had on original release. Children has a 15 certificate.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 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. I Missed The War (Gary Oldman, 1994): the only surviving footage recorded for an unrealised documentary about his mother’s life and experiences

The father tale is told after Ray has horribly beaten up his wife Val (Kathy Burke) and smashed up their flat. I have a problem with that absent father ‘explanation’ scene for it comes across as a bit too much emotional over-kill to sit alongside of the irony / ambiguity (?) of the film’s final scene of a family reuniting and deciding to visit Val’s brother Billy (Charlie Creed-Miles) in prison for robbing a man to support his drug habit (Sorry to have given you a plot-spoiler but there’s not much plot anyway.) 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 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. Galleries – a selection of stills and rare production materials from Gary Oldman’s personal archive

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 It’s a microcosm of the worst life, and even though its 25 years old, it could be today (just add mobile phones). The hopelessness, the poverty, the endless cunts an’ smoking fags soaks into you, and the most horrifying thing of all is, Gary has put us in the room with them. Faces loom, curtains twitch, the endless monotony of poverty and violence and fear, you’re sitting on the sofa with Billy, watching it all, close up, Oldman makes us part of that family.