Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34654 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Synopsis
Maggie Cheung gives an extraordinary performance in CLEAN, written and directed by her ex-husband, Olivier Assayas (DEMONLOVER). Cheung stars as Emily Wang, a junkie living with fading rock-and-roll star Lee Hauser (James Johnston). Their wild life has swung so far out of control that their young son, Jay (James Dennis) lives far away in Vancouver with Lee's parents, Rosemary (Martha Henry) and Albrecht (Nick Nolte). One night, after fighting over Lee's future career, Emily goes for a long ride, only to return to find that Lee has overdosed and the cops are ready to bring her in. After spending six months in prison, Emily discovers that life for a recovering heroin addict -- who still has a thing for other drugs, as well as alcohol -- is going to be a lot harder than she thought. She also decides to reconnect with Jay, who is not thrilled with her sudden and confusing reappareance in his life. Cheung, who has starred in such diverse films as Wong Kar-wai's romantic IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, Zhang Yimou's martial arts epic HERO, and Assayas's own IRMA VEP, which is set in the world of moviemaking, was named Best Actress at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for her mesmerizing portrayal of Emily, an ambitious woman lost in a haze of drugs and desire. Nolte excels as the soft-spoken Albrecht, who only wants what's best for his grandson while also being concerned about Emily's welfare. Musicians Tricky, David Roback of Mazzy Star, and Emily Haines of Metric appear in the film as themselves, and Beatrice Dalle and Jeanne Balibar are excellent in supporting roles. The soundtrack features songs by Brian Eno, Luna's Dean Wareham, Tricky, Metric, and Cheung herself.

Customer Reviews

Maggie Cheung really shines in this film
I came across this film the other day and found it rather intriguing. This is pretty much a simple story, a little overlong in places to the point that it does not lose pace or interest in the main characters plight. In here we have Maggie Cheung whom plays Emily Wang, a woman in Hamilton, Ontario, with a past of drug addiction and other life-ruining things. Following a raid, her son gets taken away from her and sent to live with his grandfather Albrecht (Nolte) in Vancouver, B.C. So, Maggie decides to restart her life in Paris. While visiting London, Albrecht takes the grandson to Paris to visit her, and then has to face a moral dilemma about whether or not keeping the boy from his mother is a good idea.

This is a poignant, and sometimes meandering study of one woman's uphill battle to sobriety, "Clean" is one of those movies that sneak up on you with a plot that continually puts the heroine in the flimsy position of not knowing if her own demons will give in to her will to survive or consume her.

Maggie Cheung gives a great performance as well as James Dennis, as her son, 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. Maggie is on-screen almost all the time except when scenes switch to London to focus on Albrecht, his mother, and Jay (and their anger towards Emily), and her performance is an absolutely moving tour-de-force. The camera clearly loves focusing on her alabaster face, deep eyes, and her low-pitched voice as she moves effortlessly from British English to Cantonese then to French. I didn't even know she spoke French and she speaks it very well.

During this film the most touching scene was in the Vincennes Zoo with the boy and Emily who manages a heart-to-heart chat that convinces her son she's not why his dad died -- and might deserve to be his full-time mom. Several brief scenes between Nolte and Cheung does show mutual empathy ("I believe in forgiveness," he tells her) by this being said it gives some emotional authenticity to this film.

The inconclusive end makes the optimistic viewer like me believes in a final redemption of Emily, but it is open to different interpretations. If you are a fan of Maggie Cheung, then this movie is for you!

i almost fell asleep
Oh my god, where do I start, this film is so boring. It is so long winded. It is about a woman who is a heroin addict whose partner is a rock star and he overdoses on heroin, so she gives up the drug to win back her son who lives with his grandparents. The story is meant to be about her changing her life, getting off drugs and turning her life around. She takes methadone and then one day decides to stop, you do not see any withdrawal symptoms, just her taking a few pain killers, the film seems to show her not suffering any physical withdrawal at all, which kind of makes her coming off of drugs easy. There are various characters in the film that really don't have anything to do with the story, a character called Irene who is a lesbian who locks her ex girlfriend in a bathroom?? What the hell has that got to do with anything. Some black man who is a rock star called Tricky, you don't really know where he is supposed to come into it? Her working in her family's chinese restaurant briefly, you don't see the grandparents with their grandson (her son), very much, you don't see her in prison getting counselling or going through withdrawal. This is one of the most boring and worst films I have ever seen on drug addiction or somebody coming off drugs to change their life. If you want to see a good film about drug addiction, watch Trainspotting, The Basketball Diaries, Pure, Drugstore Cowboy or Acts of Worship. Don't waste your time with this one, it is very poor to say the least. I am taking my copy of it down the charity shop tomorrow. I would give it 0 stars if I could. Don't waste your time watching it, let alone buying it.