Nil by Mouth (film)

Plot

In a working class London district lives Raymond, his wife Valerie, her brother Billy, Billy's mother Janet and their grandmother Kathy. Billy is a drug addict whom Raymond kicks out when he steals drugs from Ray himself. Billy hangs out with his heroin addict friends and they shoot up together. The family is dysfunctional, mostly due to Raymond's fiery-temper and violent outbursts.

Cast

Production

The film depicts the environment Oldman witnessed growing up on a council estate in South East London. Oldman's sister Laila Morse plays Janet and his mother voices a song in the film. The title is a medical instruction (literally "nothing by mouth"), meaning that a patient must not take food or water. It is set to the soundtrack "Peculiar Groove" by Frances Ashman.

Release

In 2001, Mind The Gap Theatre performed a stage adaptation in New York City as part of the British Airways sponsored UKwithNYC.

The screenplay, with introduction by Douglas Urbanski, was published in 1997 by ScreenPress Books.

A photo-diary of the film's production, containing photos by Jack English, was published in 1998 by ScreenPress Books.

Reception

Nil by Mouth received generally positive reviews, currently holding a 65% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5/4 stars, writing: "The film's portrait of street life in South London is unflinching and observant."

The film grossed $266,130 from 18 theatres in North America.

Nil by Mouth features the word "cunt" 82 times, more than any other film in history. It also features around 428 uses of the word "fuck", more than any film at the time until Summer of Sam beat it 2 years later; as of 2014, the record for most uses of the F-word in a dramatic film is currently held by Swearnet: The Movie, which boasts 934 utterances of said obscenity.

Awards and nominations