Here's the blahblahblahgay pick of his top five movies.
1. Nil By Mouth (1997)
Loosely based on Gary Oldman's childhood experiences Nil By Mouth features Winstone as an abusive husband to Kathy Burke. This film uses the word cunt 82 times (apparently more than any other movie in cinema history) and is noted for using the word fuck over 400 times.
2. The War Zone (1999)
Previously mentioned in my Top 5 Tilda Swinton movies post, this was the directorial debut of Tim Roth and owes a lot of its power over the viewer to the performance of Ray Winstone as the head of the family.
3. The Proposition (2005)
A superb Australian movie that more than deserves its place in the Blahblahblahgay Family DVD Guide Western chapter. Winstone plays Captain Stanley, a law officer intent on civilising Australia no matter the cost to himself or those he comes in contact with.
4. Sexy Beast (2000)
Playing opposite the Oscar nominated Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone is Dove; a softly spoken retired safe-cracker cajoled in to one last job. Almost playing against type he is a ball of repressed emotions.
5. Scum (1979)
OK that's me done for the week, got any favourite Ray Winstone movies you want to share? Do you dream of being Ray Winstone? How many times have you called somebody a fucking slag? Leave it all in the comments.
Toby, Ray Winstone has such a screen presence, even in small roles. The first time I saw him was in Sexy Beast, where Ben Kingsley dominated the screen. That said, he still did a great job. The Proposition is also an excellent performance from him. I still need to check out the others! It's interesting to see him looking so young in Scum.
ReplyDeleteAnd thin too!
ReplyDeleteEverybody was good in Sexy Beast but it was one of the few occasions when Ray Winstone plays against type and i think that improved Kingsley.
Ray Winstone is awesome! Love him in The Proposition and Sexy Beast. Nil By Mouth and The War Zone are on my watchlist, and I'm adding Scum to it.
ReplyDeleteScum is certainly something else. I think I read that it couldn't get a full release because it was so controversial and was only widely available after the British government completely changed the way juvenile offenders were punished.
DeleteEven in bad movies Winstone is excellent, the mark of a great actor I guess.
Great picks here... fuckin' love Winstone. I did a write up of him a few months ago, and with the exception of Scum (which is a raging film in its own right), we agree all the way.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been whilst i was away. That or ive completely forgotten about it.
DeleteI feel he has allowed himself to be unfairly typecast because he is a lot more than a violent thug calling people slags, he definitly has emotional range for example