Clean (2004/I)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Olivier Assayas

Writer:

Olivier Assayas (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

When you don't have a choice, you change.

Plot:

The former successful forty-two years old rock star Lee Hauser is decadent and his friends blame his...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | London | Prison | Paris France | London England

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Maggie Cheung	...	Emily Wang
Nick Nolte	...	Albrecht Hauser
Béatrice Dalle	...	Elena
Jeanne Balibar	...	Irene Paolini
Don McKellar	...	Vernon
Martha Henry	...	Rosemary Hauser
James Johnston	...	Lee Hauser
James Dennis	...	Jay
Rémi Martin	...	Jean-Pierre
Laetitia Spigarelli	...	Sandrine
Arnaud Churin	...	Store Manager
Man Kit Cheung	...	Restaurant Owner
Kurtys Kidd	...	Detective
Shaun Austin-Olsen	...	Record Label Owner
Jodi Crawford	...	Gloria
Ross McKie	...	Vancouver Police 1
Calum Dehartog	...	Vancouver Police 2
Clare-Marie Grigg	...	Cafeteria Nurse
Paul Brogen	...	Motel Clerk
Xray	...	Themselves
Joana Preiss	...	Aline
David Salsedo	...	Jeff
Mike Hoong	...	Waiter In Restaurant
Régis Vidal	...	Alexis
Jurgen Doering	...	Irene Paolini's Fan
Shaun Matheson	...	Police Officer 1
John Stoneham Jr.	...	Police Officer 2
Michelle Palmateer	...	Avis Agent
Paraskevi Antonarakis	...	Manager Of Diner
Shannon Novak	...	Record Label Employee
Tricky	...	Himself
David Roback	...	Himself
Elizabeth Densmore	...	Herself (as Liz Densmore)
Emily Haines	...	Herself - Metric
James Shaw	...	Himself - Metric
Josh Winstead	...	Himself - Metric
Joules Scott-Key	...	Himself - Metric
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isabelle Lardin	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Olivier Assayas

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Olivier Assayas		writer

Produced by
Nathalie Choukroun-Lacoste	....	co-producer
Niv Fichman	....	producer
Sari Friedland	....	line producer
Xavier Giannoli	....	producer
Daniel Iron	....	co-producer
Xavier Marchand	....	producer
Jane Moore	....	co-producer
Aline Perry	....	executive producer
Rupert Preston	....	executive producer
Frédéric Sauvagnac	....	line producer
Edouard Weil	....	producer

Original Music by
Brian Eno
David Roback
Tricky

Cinematography by
Eric Gautier

Film Editing by
Luc Barnier

Casting by
Shaheen Baig
Antoinette Boulat
John Buchan
Millie Tom
Isabelle Ungaro

Production Design by
William Fleming
François-Renaud Labarthe

Costume Design by
Anaïs Romand

Makeup Department
Franck-Pascal Alquinet	....	hair stylist
Debra Johnson	....	hair stylist
Thi-Loan Nguyen	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jo Farr	....	production manager: Canada

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Luc Bricault	....	second assistant director: France
Bruno Bryniarski	....	second assistant director: Canada
Matthew Gledhill	....	first assistant director
Laurence Méoc	....	second assistant director: France
Alex Oakley	....	second assistant director: UK
Elizabeth Parker	....	second assistant director: Canada (as Duff Parker)
Jennifer Stock	....	second assistant director: Canada

Art Department
Vincent Amiel	....	construction coordinator
Yvon Moreno	....	floor props
Ken Sinclair	....	first assistant decorator
Ken Sinclair	....	lead man

Sound Department
Annabel Acquaviva	....	boom operator
Al Buchok	....	sound re-recording mixer
Guadalupe Cassius	....	foley editor
Frank Ceven	....	assistant foley artist
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Roman Dymny	....	sound designer
Roman Dymny	....	sound mixer
Bill Flynn	....	sound
Richard Flynn	....	sound mixer
Richard Flynn	....	sound recordist
Herwig Gayer	....	sound recordist
Nicolas Moreau	....	sound designer
Nicolas Moreau	....	sound mixer
Rob Rouse	....	boom operator: Canada
Guillaume Sciama	....	sound recordist
Daniel Sobrino	....	sound designer
Vincent Vatoux	....	assistant sound editor

Stunts
Catherine Lebegue	....	stunts: France
Thierry Saelens	....	stunts: France
John Stoneham Jr.	....	stunt coordinator: Canada

Camera and Electrical Department
Julien Bureau	....	first assistant camera
Scott Cowan	....	assistant camera
Franck Fiquet	....	electrician
Eric Gies	....	gaffer
Paf le Chien	....	still photographer
Jérôme Lift	....	second assistant camera: France
Ludovic Petit	....	electrician
Jean-Pierre Voisin	....	electrician

Casting Department
Jonathan Payne	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Matt Cahill	....	post-production coordinator: Canada
Julie Delord	....	second assistant editor
Isabelle Julien	....	color grader
Isabelle Julien	....	color timer
Sophie Lustière	....	color grader
Marion Monnier	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Cynthia Amsden	....	unit publicist
Mira Bailey	....	production assistant
Sandie Cabrol	....	production coordinator
Sara Curran	....	legal counsel
Agnès Feuvre	....	script supervisor
Clémentine Harland	....	production coordinator
Daniel Horvat	....	production accountant: Canada
Cory Johnson	....	production assistant
François Mathon	....	assistant: Maggie cheung
Don McKellar	....	script translator
Chris Morgan	....	location manager
Neil Peplow	....	production executive
Matthew Riutta	....	caterer
Adrien Scolan	....	runner
Matt Tromans	....	assistant: Nick Nolte

Thanks
Matt Tromans	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Rectangle Productions (co-production)
• Haystack Productions (co-production)
• Rhombus Media (co-production)
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• Film Council (in association with)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (with the participation of)
• Canal+ (with the participation of)
• Matrix Film Finance (in association with)
• Film Consortium, The (in association with)
• Forensic Films (in association with)
• Journeyman Films Ltd.

Distributors

• ARP Sélection (France) (theatrical)
• Matrix Film Finance (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• TVA Films (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Works, The (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Golden Village (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Inspire Pictures (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Istituto Luce (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Telexcel (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Mikros Image (special effects) (as Arane et Mikros Image)

Other Companies

• Alunissons  sound equipment
• Arion Facilities  video laboratory
• Artistic Images  video conforming
• Cinésyl  grip equipment
• D.C.A.  sound equipment
• DeLuxe Laboratories  laboratory (as Deluxe Laboratory Ltd)
• Digison  looping
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• Les Auditoriums de Joinville  dubbing facility
• Mad Dog Casting  extras casting
• Mikros Image  credits (as Arane et Mikros Image)
• PS Production Services  grip equipment
• PS Production Services  lighting equipment
• Panavision Alga  camera equipment
• Panavision Canada  camera equipment (as Panavision)
• Polyson  sound editing facility
• Titra Film Paris  French subtitles
• Toronto Film Studios  thanks
• Toybox  video laboratory
• Transpalux  lighting equipment
• Unimage  picture editing facility

Also Known As:

Kathari (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

111 min | France:110 min | USA:90 min | Argentina:110 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Canada | France | UK

Language:

French | English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Gare du Nord, Paris 10, Paris, France

Company:

Rectangle Productions

Trivia:

Lead actress Maggie Cheung and director Olivier Assayas were already divorced when they made this movie.

Movie Connections:

References Maniac (1980)

Soundtrack:

Stars

Masterful Performance from Maggie Cheung

So what does it take to win at the Cannes Film Festival? Well, Maggie Cheung pulled out all the stops for her win in 2004 in a moving film directed by her ex-husband Olivier Assayas.

Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung), a junkie ex-VJ, struggles in life after her husband, a famed yet ageing rocker whose career is in decline, dies after a heroin overdose on the drugs she had bought him. After serving six months in jail for possession, she finds her son, Jay (James Dennis) is put into the care of her parents in law, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry). Knowing that the only way to see her son again is to clean herself up, Emily moves to Paris to rebuild her life, seeking help from long forgotten contacts. Meanwhile Albrecht begins to have a change in heart when he realises that Rosemary is dying.

Maggie Cheung's performance isn't easy to match with superlatives. Mastering dialogue in Cantonese, English and French, as well as singing the title track - she, unlike many HK actors, hasn't launched a singing career - it feels as much an honest, raw portrayal of Emily's character and her struggles to deal with the twists presented to her. Whilst Cheung and Assayas may have split amicably years before, I can't help but feel that their own history must have played a part in the making of this film, and if so, they used it well for the benefit of the film. Which is just as well, as I felt the overall script wasn't as impactful as it could be, particularly given Cheung's performance.

Nick Nolte's role is fairly limited. It's strange seeing him now as a grandfather, but he does it well - will we see a change in direction from him? This is a good film, and we will look back on it one day in an awards ceremony and say this is the one movie that exemplifies all of Maggie Cheung's achievements in one film.