Clean (2004)

Fantastic!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Pretty much since I saw Demonlover years ago, Olivier Assayas has been on my mind. Also since I saw Demonlover years ago, I've had a hard time building up the courage to explore his ouevre further. Frankly, this guy's good. And Demonlover is the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. Ergo, I really didn't feel like experiencing it again. Assayas' short on Paris, je t'aime certainly indicated as well that Demonlover was no lucky hit, this is a guy who knows how to form intense spacial relationships out of simple movement, and along with Danny Boyle seems to be the rare guy out there who can make hand-held cinematography look like carefully controlled blocking (is Assayas acknowledging that similar link with his use of Brain Eno's Ascent/The End similarly used by Boyle in 28 Days Later...?).Anyway, I finally got a chance to see another one of his movies, and it too, is good. Starring Maggie Cheung, Assayas' ex, right at the end of her relationship, it features the age-old story of a rock star who rocked a little too hard and fell into the wonderful grungy world of heroin until a personal tragedy forced her to reclaim her life and she slowly rebuilt her career.Okay, so the story's not that original. So why does it stand out so? First of all, Assayas is a very intelligent storyteller, and one of those few who puts dialog in the movie that can go right over people's heads without understanding the implications of it. In both Demonlover and Clean, characters decisions are almost always informed by business decisions. As Emily tries her best to pull herself together and rebuild her relationship with her son, nobody else has time to help her despite in many cases wanting to, basically because they have too much work to do or somewhere else to be. None of it is overtly hateful and Assayas is NOT making a simple "the music business is evol" statement--on the contrary, as soon as Emily gets herself on her feet the music industry is right back on her side and she is able to move forward as best she can, with everyone's help. Rather, everyone walking around is just too busy to help, and Emily is entirely on her own.Then there's Albrecht, superbly performed by Nick Nolte. He's probably the single best representation of the rote character that populates this sort of narrative as someone who helps sad little druggy get out of her mess, but in this case he doesn't tie her to a chair and quote pseudobiblical passages of love and tolerance or any of that idiocy. He's an imperfect character to and his strongest strength is his aged inability to handle Emily's problems in the first place. So instead, his approach is to give her as many chances as possible while being as straightforward and blunt as he possibly can be when he looks right into her eyes and tells her in so many words he doesn't trust her, but is willing to let her prove her trustworthiness. The relationship between these two is the most realized I can ever remember seeing in a movie on this subject. It blows all that sentimental crap out of the water, at least.It's not a perfect movie, however. The relationship between Emily and her son is well written but unfortunately relied on a child actor, and well, this child actor just didn't cut it. Our suspension of disbelief, meanwhile, relies on the idea that Emily was once or could be later a gifted musician, and Maggie Cheung... just didn't cut it. Her breathy and falsely restrained voice is like a woman trying to sing a grunge song she barely remembers to a bewildered music store clerk. Not easy to sit through, though lucky for us, it only happens twice in the movie, and the first time a character even says to her face it's not good.At any rate, Assayas seems very promising and I've gotta follow up with more of this stuff. I've noticed that his movies are almost always met with mixed reviews and a lot of love him or hate him emotional responses, but I think he's a more careful and intelligent director than the hate him people realize, and a little more interested in alienating his viewership than the love him people are willing to admit. Thus far it seems he takes a little bit of effort on the viewers' part, but he's willing to meet them halfway and give them something worth their effort if they're patient.--PolarisDiB

it is a tired excuse for film making when directors, writers, actors and actresses come together and make a 'harrowing', 'powerful', 'grim' movie about drugs, sex and whatever else they care to throw at the screen. Other movies that come to mind are the recent precious and the ribald Monster's Ball. They pretend to loath the ugliness of the reality they present but in actual fact revel in it. This movie is just such an example of worthy bourgeois film making passing itself off as insightful and profound. If anyone care to watch a film by sensitive film makers involved in telling real stories about real people with real problems, without the unnecessary dressage of actresses and their inflated personalities, check out anything by the wonderful Ken Loach (British) or the Dardenne brothers (Belgian).

Maggie Cheung turns in what is quite simply one of the greatest film performances I've ever seen. She doesn't portray Emily -- she IS Emily. If you watch the interviews on the DVD, she explains that she didn't anticipate what she was going to do in any scene, she just reacted in character to what happened to her. I know, I know -- a lot of actors say this. But this time I think it's really true. As a result her performance has a spontaneity, and a breadth and a depth, that is truly breathtaking.Did I mention that she's acting in three different languages? That hasn't been done since Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, I believe. She's also completely convincing in portraying the character's downfall from chic rock star to humble waitress.This is not to take away from the other actors, who are also excellent, especially Nick Nolte (what an underrated actor he is!) and Don McKellen.PS I have friends who didn't want to see this because it sounded yet another movie about a junkie. Well it's not really -- that's only a secondary part of the story. It's really about a woman's transformation, and the victory of a mother's love over desperate circumstances.See it, see it, see it.

"Clean" is a journey. a visceral envelope sent to you in the mail. You open it and read a story of a life that catches you off guard, takes you in, and keeps you on your toes; alert to the nuances of Nolte's minimal, muscular facial tics and the fluid, emotional lensing of Maggie running down and up escalators, for her life, for her son. It is rare to see such brilliant roles for so many women. How did Nolte come to this role? Perfect. His work with James Dennis was tender and directorial. Compelling cinematography, editing; sometimes breathless. Both these actors nail it. The supporting cast follows. Depicting the music business in fleeting evasive moments of distance, grittiness, and flash, is from the point of view of Emily, real and poignant, and ultimately a deserving condemnation and finally transcendence through sheer will, with a bit of streetwise skill thrown in for good measure. I love the characters, especially the obvious ones and some less obvious. A writer who directs his own script and an ex wife as well, in the present climate of international movie-making...is to be celebrated and acknowledged for the human story he tells from the point of view of a woman. The style and emotional, cinematic realism is brilliant. Finally it is a story about forgiveness of ourselves and others and the redemption that brings. This is a political film and a beautiful original form.