DVD Review - Clean
Clean, which is directed by Olivier Assayas, won a Best Actress Award for Maggie Cheung at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The film had a very limited release earlier this year and it is now out on DVD. We are past the half way point and as far as I'm concerned Cheung has given the best performance by an actress so far this year. Yes, she is even better than Meryl Streep. Streep is great in The Devil Wears Prada but it is a very showy role. Cheung's acting is much more emotionally satisfying.
Cheung's character Emily is a heroin addict. She and her husband Lee (James Johnston) are part of a rock band and travel all around the world. Lee is worried that he is all washed up and is willing to take any deal but Emily doesn't want to settle. After Lee dies of a drug overdose Emily is sent to prison for six months. When she comes out she is no longer taking heroin but she is on methadone. Emily has a son named Jay (James Dennis) who lives with her in-laws in Vancouver. Her mother-in-law Rosemary (Martha Henry) will not see or speak to her. She blames Emily for Lee's death. But her father-in-law Albrecht (Nick Nolte) is a bit more understanding. When they meet after her release he is sympathetic towards her but he insists that she does not try to see her son. Emily agrees and goes back to Paris where she gets a job as a waitress at her uncle's restaurant (which ultimately doesn't work out). But Emily has a gut feeling that she needs to do something else and she also feels the need to get her son back. She gets off the methadone and takes a job in department store. She wants to prove that she is capable of taking care of her child. I won't tell you what else happens but I will say that throughout the film I was rooting for Emily.
Assayas directs his actors with a great deal of compassion. You might say that this film is a divorce present for Cheung as she and Assayas were married for a number of years and split around the time that this film was made. Nolte is also in top form. He carries the weight of the world in his craggy face. Assayas made sure to have actual musicians in the film. Johnston is in a band and a singer named Tricky is also part of the cast. The great cinematographer Eric Gautier gives you a real taste of each city that the film takes us to - London, Paris, Vancouver and San Francisco. I love to watch any film that he works on. I hope that now that this film is out on DVD it will gain a wider audience. Clean doesn't wrap things up in a neat little package like so many American films do. There are a number of loose threads and ragged edges. But that is what makes the film so wonderful - it mirrors real life.
Cheung's character Emily is a heroin addict. She and her husband Lee (James Johnston) are part of a rock band and travel all around the world. Lee is worried that he is all washed up and is willing to take any deal but Emily doesn't want to settle. After Lee dies of a drug overdose Emily is sent to prison for six months. When she comes out she is no longer taking heroin but she is on methadone. Emily has a son named Jay (James Dennis) who lives with her in-laws in Vancouver. Her mother-in-law Rosemary (Martha Henry) will not see or speak to her. She blames Emily for Lee's death. But her father-in-law Albrecht (Nick Nolte) is a bit more understanding. When they meet after her release he is sympathetic towards her but he insists that she does not try to see her son. Emily agrees and goes back to Paris where she gets a job as a waitress at her uncle's restaurant (which ultimately doesn't work out). But Emily has a gut feeling that she needs to do something else and she also feels the need to get her son back. She gets off the methadone and takes a job in department store. She wants to prove that she is capable of taking care of her child. I won't tell you what else happens but I will say that throughout the film I was rooting for Emily.
Assayas directs his actors with a great deal of compassion. You might say that this film is a divorce present for Cheung as she and Assayas were married for a number of years and split around the time that this film was made. Nolte is also in top form. He carries the weight of the world in his craggy face. Assayas made sure to have actual musicians in the film. Johnston is in a band and a singer named Tricky is also part of the cast. The great cinematographer Eric Gautier gives you a real taste of each city that the film takes us to - London, Paris, Vancouver and San Francisco. I love to watch any film that he works on. I hope that now that this film is out on DVD it will gain a wider audience. Clean doesn't wrap things up in a neat little package like so many American films do. There are a number of loose threads and ragged edges. But that is what makes the film so wonderful - it mirrors real life.
posted by Film Fanatic | 2:58 PM
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