Clean [DVD]

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.

Clean delivers.
Director Assayas had a clear vision in mind for this story and delivers it with excellent performances by Maggie Chung and Nick Nolte. It’s heart-felt, real, sad, beautiful and uplifting (which means it has nothing in common with Assayas new unfocused film “Boarding Gate” or the brilliant, but nasty “demonlover”). “Clean” gives an informed look at the lifestyle and creative process of fringe pop musicians and mirrors the costly infatuation so many have had with destructive drugs. In this case the choice to value something of meaning is the salvation of the main character and the path to redemption makes for a dramatic narrative and emotional feast.

Actually it deserves 3.5, NOT 3
Nick Nolte was superb as a grandpa with his hands full of life’s issues. However, the story was too mundane for me.The irresponsibility of adults who refuse to grow up and then the desire to get return on zero investment I always find annoying.Yet, I guess that’s what makes us human. A desire for redemption and second chance. The scene where the protagonist reaches SF and looks at the bridge and her breaking down in tears was the most telling part of the entire movie. Especially when she looks at the cup of coffee and feels the warm reassurance that radiates from the silent cup, by the California bay. Wish I could give it four stars, but the story and the script was not strong enough. It was done more in a French style, and I am slightly subjectively biased against French mode of storytelling.Other than that, it’s a OK show.

Not much to say about this movie. It is brilliant. Highly recommended to any movie buff. Maggie Cheung is a great actress.

I was disappointed with this film.I felt Maggie Cheung did not portray this character well to engage the audience, although in the extra section she explains how her approach was to non act the acting part which I felt was quite a pretentious thing to say.I felt like she is at a stage in her career where she sees herself as being an actor’s actor, she considers her success lies in doing as little as possible on screen to create a bigger impact, or I rather see this more as a flip side to being such a famous HK movie actress she gets to try something alternatively different in contrast to the other roles we usually see her in.Having said this I was still disappointed with the acting. I thought it was the worst film I have watched in a long time. And I have difficulty in believing she won the award for best actress at Cannes.I wanted her to give a bit more of herself when it counted in her acting but instead we got nothing, just a lot of blank stares, I didn’t feel anything and it made me think – isn’t a role of an actor to inject emotion into the roles they play to enable the audience to engage emotionally to the story? Or is that not what films about?I don’t think it is entirely Maggie Cheung’s fault but instead the director’s viewpoint, I understand his impetus in making the movie but it does not come off well on screen which is a shame because in comparison Nick Holte’s screen presence is believable and the young boy is very sweet in the movie and both parts are played well – there were moments you really felt the tension and pull in the story through them.And unfortunately I felt the actress was a fake.I originally wanted to watch the film because I felt it would be refreshing and different to watch a well known actress play a role not usually you will see her in and maybe she is trying to pave the way for more Chinese actors away from the usual martial arts/prostitute roles you so associate Chinese actresses with.But still I felt the role was a meatier subject matter that required more emotional depth that I felt was lacking unfortunately.