MovieChat Forums > Nil by Mouth (1998) Discussion > To all the people asking why watch such ...

To all the people asking why watch such a dark film...

posted 12 years ago by wrongview
2 replies | jump to latest

There is beauty in darkness too...

If you wish to learn something about the rhythms of anger and violence, and the nature of various mental disorders and mental dysfunctions in relation to the familial structure and/or society at large, this is probably the most intense and real peek inside the clockworks of such a mechanism. It's quite fascinating to watch if you'll give it a chance whether you've grown up with a poor support network in your life or not. It's very easy to fall prey to anyone who has opinions and a bold character. You would do well to observe this film and study the alcoholic abuser, the low self esteem depressed addict, and the battered co-dependant enabler. All three must work carefully never going too far out of bounds to maintain this careful dance of suffering to avoid making real and honest changes and drastic life realizations.

As my favorite song in this harrowing film's lyrics say from the song Peculiar Groove: "People rise here, just like the flowers they bloom."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai6kIdjLpJM
Frances Ashman: Peculiar Groove (Track from Nil By Mouth)

Anecdotally, the first time I ever saw Nil By Mouth I had taken a good amount of shrooms and the cockney slang as well as the almost play-like delivery of the lines had me scared to death! I had the same damn thing happen to me when I had eaten a few caps with the tv on another night and Braveheart and Irreversible came on right in a row! LOL! Nil By Mouth, Braveheart, and Irreversible are much too intense to watch under the influence of mind altering substances. You have been warned!

P.S. Sometimes you can just sense someone through the art, through the work. I might not like or get along with Gary Oldman but I can guarantee you one thing, we understand one another nice and sparkling clear. His ability to communicate his art well is why he is and will always be one of my favorite modern cave painters.

[–] Yinky 11 years ago

Thanks for this. I like "disturbing" movies but I've noticed that if the movie is just brutality for brutality's sake, it bores me (like slasher flicks). I also don't like movies about lowlifes acting like lowlifes. Is there a plot to this movie, or is it just a man brutalizing his family to no end? Is there a resolution? (By resolution I do not mean a happy ending; I'm just concerned with content--is there a conflict and does it have some sort--happy or not--conclusion?)

[–] wrongview 10 years ago

Conflicts are never resolved. You either fight, run away, or call a truce. There is always conflict. Inside us is constant conflict and internal battles. The reason conflict spills out from the battle inside ourselves and rushes straight towards the nearest person is because most people don't realize emotions are bi-directional. If you walk past a homeless person you will feel pity for them and thus will instantly feel pity for yourself. The same with envy, anger, fear, etc.

I only typed out this previous paragraph to you in order to tell you that I thought it had no discernible ending per se. It almost seemed like a loop-locked pattern, not unlike perhaps a small music box with several characters on top forced to interact with one another as long as the spring is wound tight...