In Clean (2004), Maggie Cheung is Emily, an unsmiling junkie who changes her ways to be able to see her son. The film begins with so much noise that French subtitles actually helpful. But the camera learns to focus; the overdosing quickly ends. There is no French until 30 minutes into the film. But the film is really less French than a transient, not-wanting-to-be-anchored piece that speaks to the multi-lingual, multi-location, multi-ethnic amongst us. Cheung's character becomes less of a bisexual heroin apologist than a woman with another shot at a better life, the opposite of the dead end she started out with (of which the shot of the lone car facing the oil refinery was a haunting symbol). Nick Nolte as a grandfather plays it effectively low-key. The score is great, but the singing is something else. Cheung won Best Actress at Cannes for this film, which was directed by her ex-husband Oliver Assayas. Better collaborators than husband-and-wife, no?
[image from outnow.ch]
No comments:
Post a Comment