Product Description

Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is a woman who wrestles with her dream of becoming a singer, her fitness as a mother, and daily life without her partner Lee (James Johnston). Her past is riddled with drugs and regrets, the result of which left Lee dead in a desolate motel room in Hamilton, Ontario, and landed Emily with a six-month jail sentence. The only thing that she desires for the future is a loving relationship with her son Jay, who is being cared for by Lee’s parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry). While Rosemary blames Emily for the death of Lee, Albrecht recognizes the importance of the bond between a mother and her son, and his faith sets the standard for the faith Emily must find in herself. CLEAN follows Emily to Hamilton, Paris, London and San Francisco and in three languages, as she battle for a place in a world reluctant to forget the woman she has been and unwilling to accept her as the woman she longs to be.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42401 in DVD
• Brand: UNIVERSAL MUSIC VIDEO DIST.
• Released on: 2006-07-18
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Features

• Maggie Cheung (2046) gives a bravura performance as a complex, troubled woman who is trying to forge a bond with her young son, while at the same time healing and distancing herself from a past full of drugs, jail, and turbulent relationships. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R Age: 660200313722 UPC: 660200313722 Manufacturer No: PALMDV3137

Amazon.com
After the uncharacteristically epic Les Destinées and surprisingly cynical Demonlover, Olivier Assayas got his groove back with the cautiously optimistic Clean. Granted, the globe-trotting tale gets off to a grim start, but the grace notes gradually begin to accumulate. Corkscrew-coiffed Emily (Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung) is the outspoken lover of struggling musician Lee (James Johnston, formerly of Brit band Gallon Drunk). She's also a heroin addict, just like her partner. When he dies from an overdose, she does time for possession, while his Canadian parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte in a nicely-shaded performance) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), gain custody of son Jay (James Dennis). Upon release, Emily returns to France to find work, stay clean, and earn the right to reclaim her child. Except for Albrecht, no one believes she can pull it off. Worse yet, many hold her responsible for Lee's death. (The echoes of Courtney Love and Yoko Ono can't be coincidental.) A decade has passed since Assayas directed Cheung in the dazzling Irma Vep. Since that time, they married and divorced, but the professional relationship persists, culminating in a Best Actress award at Cannes for a performance that calls for dialogue in English, French, and Cantonese--even some singing. As suggested by the title, Clean is cool and somewhat detached, an effect reinforced by Éric Gautier's crisp cinematography and a soundtrack heavy on early Eno, but it sidesteps the histrionics frequently associated with the recovery film. Featuring Tricky and David Roback (Mazzy Star) as themselves. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

A Vibrant Portrait of Struggle with One's Own Inadequacies.
"Clean" is the second film that director Olivier Assayas wrote with actress Maggie Cheung in mind. When they first collaborated on 1996's "Irma Vepp", Cheung was a big Hong Kong movie star whom Assayas didn't know well. Now Cheung is Assayas' ex-wife (their divorce was finalized during filming), and "Clean" provides her an opportunity to create a more intimate portrait. The result is one of the most striking performances of 2004, for which Maggie Cheung won a Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a French Cesar nomination in 2005. Cinematographer Eric Gautier was likewise honored with a Cannes win and Cesar nomination. "Clean" is a French independent film but has a wonderful international quality -due to its diverse cast and locations- without sacrificing its clear sense of place in Canada and Paris, France. Assayas cast real musicians wherever he could, in keeping with docu-drama and neo-realist traditions of populating movies with authentic supporting players.

Lee (James Johnson) is a talented rock musician and songwriter whose career has fizzled in part due to a heroin habit. His junkie wife Emily (Maggie Cheung), an aspiring singer, is argumentative, unrealistic, and generally hated and blamed for Lee's demise by his friends. When Lee dies of an overdose, Emily is busted for heroin possession. When she gets out of prison, Lee's father Albrecht (Nick Nolte) is kind to Emily but asks that she not make any attempt to see her son Jay (James Dennis), whom Albrecht and his wife Rosemary (Martha Henry) have raised since Emily and Lee abandoned the boy on account of their itinerant, wasted lifestyle. In no position to take care of a child anyway, Emily returns to Paris, where she had a career and good contacts in the entertainment industry. Trying hard to stay off the drugs and hold down a job, with uneven success, Emily decides that more than anything she wants to see her son.

Emily is not likeable. She is needy and tenacious. She makes bad decisions. She's not sure if she'd rather have a settled, safe life or be a junkie. But she knows she wants to know her son. Somehow her desire to connect with Jay and her struggle, though not always triumphant, to normalize her life reaches out to the audience. Emily makes things difficult for herself and for those around her. She's not someone I'd want to be around in real life. But she is fascinating and empathetic in this film. Nick Nolte deserves praise as well for his craggy, perceptive grandpa, who is intimidated by children but loves his grandson and reaches out to Emily. The odd cast of characters who are Emily's circle in Paris make an interesting tableau. They are vivid enough to keep us interested in a lot of scenes that are superfluous. Vibrant writing by Olivier Assayas keeps "Clean" from resembling one of those plodding, overbearing "portrait of a junkie" films. In English, French, and occasionally Cantonese with English subtitles.

The DVD (Palm Pictures 2006): Bonus features are 5 interviews plus a theatrical trailer. Olivier Assayas (19 min) discusses (in English) the significance of the film's title, developing the character of Emily, Maggie Cheung's acting style, working with Nick Nolte, and using real musicians in the film. Maggie Cheung (14 min) talks about Emily and how she and Olivier work together. Nick Nolte (7 min) talks about working on French independent film and working with Assayas and cinematographer Eric Gautier. Tricky (4 min), a British musician who has a small role in the film, recounts how he met Assayas. Metric (3 min), the band that appears in the opening scenes, compare making movies to being on tour. Optional English subtitles for the film.

maggie cheung at her best
My review title is a little deceptive-Maggie Cheung is always at her best,even in films which aren't that good-she's made a phenomenal number of films(80 something)in a relatively short span of years and I've never seen her turn in a substandard performance-Clean is well-directed,has excellent cinematography(particularly the early scenes in Hamilton,Ontario),good location shooting and an interesting story that doesn't try to overreach itself by trying to be more than what it appears to be-the effects of irresponsible living on a number of lives-Nick Nolte turns in a terrific sensitive performance which is somewhat different from what he is generally known for(although he reprises a similar mood in The Beautiful Country) and the rest of the cast is competent and believable.Maggie Cheung may well be the most versatile actress in the world-she's played every imaginable role-as much as I admire her I wouldn't recommend that she should make any more films that involve her singing-no one can be talented at everything.

A little gem !

"Clean" is a striking and touching film that turns around the progressive transformation of woman from Chinese origin, who loses the custody of her own son after his husband (a famous rock star) dies from an overdoses.

The tragedy has several plots, the main hast do with her and her social environment. The initial contact with the fathers of his husband, (superbly performed by Nick Nolte), her decision of living in Paris trying to recover a new life and the enormous internal conflicts respect her previous dependence. On the other hand the implacable opinion of the grandmother of this child who induces him to think she was the real guilty of his father's death, and finally the clever steps made by the grandfather (Nolte) when he has to move to London in order to deal with the future release of three albums of his son.

What it shocks and engages from this picture is the extraordinary, fluid and organic script, the horrid situation she must surmount in order to deserve a minimum of respect before the society, her son and herself.

The suggestive end is arresting suggesting us she won at last the expected possibility to win the custody due the imminence of death of their parents in law.