Clean

No doubt that this is a professionally made movie but the story is truly lacking at times. The getting clean and finding conciliation with her son seem like two totally different things in the movie, even though they are obviously connected to each other. It's one of the reasons why I regard this as a disjointed picture.

Other reasons are that not all story lines seems that relevant in the movie movie and not all get wrapped up properly. Some characters in the long run are pretty redundant ones. It makes the movie move slower than really necessary at times. The movie is already quite short now but in my opinion it could and perhaps also should had been even 10-20 minutes shorter.

You can say a lot of things about this movie but you can't accuse it of not being original. Despite not having a so original story, the movie at all times keeps a realistic and original approach of things. I think this really says something about the directing qualities of Olivier Assayas.

The movie gets entirely carried by Maggie Cheung. She acts in 3 totally different languages for a large part in this movie. You have got to respect that! Which other actor can say he or she is capable of doing that? But no, it wasn't always a character I could sympathize with, since she is still a kind of offbeat person. It still was the movie that introduced the western world to Maggie Cheung. Nick Nolte also of course plays one fine role, though his role is perhaps a bit more limited than you would expect. And man, how heavy was he on the bottle during the filming off this movie? At times his hands were shaking and he was touching his head. Something tells me this wasn't acting or part of his character. Nolte is of course notorious for his drinking problems. The Nick Nolte character and the Maggie Cheung character also don't really feel connected in this movie. as if they were making two completely different pictures at the time on their own. It just doesn't feel right, not even when they're together in the same scene. It feels like two captain on one ship, with each of them taking their own course.

See it's for its fine directing but don't expect to be blown away by a terribly sad or powerful dramatic story.

6/10

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Olivier Assayas's 'Clean' takes an in depth look at the life of a young widow who tire to get her life back on track after her former life, that of sex, drugs and rock and roll ended in the death of her husband and a six-month prison sentence. The movie isn't as much about drugs as it is about the struggle of a woman to stay clean and turn her life around in order to prepare herself to be a better mother. The story is told with a lot of subtle dark undertones but it is told with sincerity and there is no pretension about it. Assayas really avoids clichés and his main intention really seems to be to tell a genuine human story. Maggie Cheung delivers a breathtaking performance as the desperate Emily Wang. This is perhaps her final film before she's moved into retirement (though I hope she does come back and do more films because it would be a waste of her talent). Her performance is subtle but it speaks volumes. Likewise, Nick Nolte does an equally amazing job as Emily's sympathetic and strong-minded father-in-law. It is easily one of his best performances. The supporting cast does well too. Beatrice Dalle especially stands out as Emily's friend. In addition, the soundtrack is pretty mesmerizing and it wonderfully adds to the film giving voice to the silent moments. 'Clean' is relevant film especially for those who have survived addiction and still struggle with it every day but that is not to say that it's another one of those preachy this-is-what-you-should-do movies. It has a universal appeal and if Maggie Cheung has chosen this as her last film then it's a fine choice (but of course I hope that she does come back to do more).

The former successful forty-two years old rock star Lee Hauser (James Johnston) is decadent and his friends blame his girlfriend Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) for the fall in his career due to excessive use of drugs. Their son Jay (James Dennis) is raised by his grandparents Albrecht Hauser (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary Hauser (Martha Henry) in Vancouver. When Lee dies of overdose in a motel room, Emily is sentenced to six months in jail. She moves to Paris where she unsuccessfully struggles to keep clean. When she decides to retrieve the guard of he son, she is supported by her father-in-law and finds the necessary strength to rebuild her life.

"Clean" is a heavy drama of second chance in life with great performances of Maggie Cheung and the boy James Dennis, who probably has the strongest lines with the rejection to his mother. Nick Nolte performs an experienced nice man that believes in forgiveness, but he, actor, seems to be tired. The inconclusive end makes the optimistic viewer like me believes in a final redemption of Emily, but it is open to different interpretations. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Clean"

Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is in Toronto with her rocker boyfriend Lee. They're both drug addicts and have a son together. Everybody blames her for his drug addiction. Lee dies of heroin overdose. She gets caught for possession. After getting out of jail, Lee's father Albrecht Hauser (Nick Nolte) visits her. She agrees not to visit her son Jay who is living with Albrecht in Vancouver. In Paris, she tries to stay clean while waitressing but she has become addicted to methadone.

It's interesting to see Maggie speak English and French. She seems capable. Her acting is fine but there is a grittier level that she doesn't quite get to. The indie style and her acting don't quite drop down into the gutter. Her desperation isn't visceral enough. Nick Nolte is doing his gruff acting. The movie starts in Toronto. Although I love Metric, it would be more cinematic to start in someplace more glamorous like New York. This is definitely the best non-Chinese dramatic acting that I've seen from Maggie. I kept expecting this to go to a much darker place.

Clean marks Maggie Cheung and her ex-husband Olivier Assayas's 1st project after the divorce.

As i personally unable to catch Irma Vep, the French vampire drama which both previously worked together, i am unable to say how well Maggie Cheung has acted in French, but seriously, i am really impressed by Cheung's performance in her 2nd French film. Playing the role of Emily Wang, a rock singer's husband, Maggie presented herself in fluent English, French and Cantonese, her native language. When Emily was arrested for possession of drugs after her husband died of overdose of heroin, she was imprisoned for 6 months. After her release from the prison, she promised her father-in-law (Nick Nolte) that she would start her life clean, so as to get back her son. During this period, she worked in a Chinese restaurant as a waitress, and at the same time, she wants to settled down with a proper job, which was none other but related to rock music.

Clean focuses on Emily's journey to start life anew, with some scene where her father-in-law is helping her to get back to life, by convincing her son, Jay, to go back to his mum. From the film, we could see the journey Emily has been through, right from the help given by her friends, how she was treated in the restaurant, to the reunion with her son. Maggie Cheung has proved the fim critics that being an Asian female movie star, she could also acted well in this multi-nation production which gains her an Cannes. Nick Nolte, on the other hand, helps to enhance the film with his role of the forgiving father-in-law, who was there to help his daughter-in-law to get back her son, rather than blaming her for his son's death.

It was quite sometime for the Asian audiences to see Maggie Cheung as the main actress in a movie after Zhang Yimou's Hero, which was seen as a failure in Asia. While Wong Kar Wai uses Maggie as Tony Leung Chiu Wai's memory in 2046, where she barely appears for less than 10 seconds in the whole film, Assayas fully enhanced Maggie's potential in Clean, which is a delight to Maggie's fans.

Also, Maggie Cheung performed the theme song for Clean for the first time, which also thrills and surprises her fans. Unlike Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, who are both singer and actress, Maggie Cheung has never recorded an album before, as she's not a professional singer. But with the new try in Clean, not only we could get a chance to see her impressive performance, but also judge on her vocal in the 2 songs performed by her in Clean. By acting and singing at the same time in Clean, Maggie Cheung has not let her fans down.