July 26, 2006
Clean
Maggie Cheung, ready to get 'Clean'
A druggie is forced to pick up the pieces after her rockstar lover has fatally OD'd on heroin. Things, of course, shall never be the same. But will she — and can she — adapt to the changing conditions, and make a new life for herself? Or will she never change? That is the central internal conflict of director Oliver Assayas' latest work, Clean, which, at times, transcends the by-the-numbers Behind the Music plot synopsis by exploring our protagonist's Everyman need for redemption.
Clean starts out chronicling Lee Hauser's last days. Lee (played by real-life musician James Hauser) has not only experiencing a professional slump, but a lack of passion in his relationship with a long-time love - the Courtney Love/Yoko Ono-two-in-one combo - Emily Wang, as of late.
After a night out in her car (she and Lee were quarrelling the evening before), Emily returns to Lee's apartment the next morning — only to find cops circling on what appears to be a forensics' playground. Although she is not considered — in any way — responsible for Lee's death, Emily is, nonetheless, charged with possession of cocaine and later sentenced to six months in prison.
Upon release, Emily is faced with an uncertain future. Deemed financially (she is not legally entitled to any of the posthumous royalties from Lee's records) and mentally (substance abuse) inept, Emily and Lee's child, Jay, remains in the custody of Lee's parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Marthy Henry). Assayas shuffles back and forth between Emily's new life in Paris, and Jay's cozy domestic life with gramps in Vancouve during the two thirds segment of the film.
When Assayas turns his lens on Emily's downtrodden life in Paris, the film, unfortunately, loses any emotional power it had in the first place. Assayas attempts to construct an alienated, spiritually-lost metropolis (reflections of glass windows and walls, car and train surfaces are recurring visual motifs) that mirrors Emily's interior state, as she experiences acts of betrayals from old friends in and inevitably suffers from symptoms of drug withdrawal, but the images somehow come off as too detached for its own good [1].
That Emily is played by Maggie Cheung does not help Clean steer from the detachment department. Although I usually consider Cheung as a wonderfully visceral actress (she is one of my favorites right now), here in Clean, she delivers more of a studied rather than soulful performance. It is respectable in execution, but feels inferior, especially in comparison to the rest of her earlier work [2].
In contrast, the film feels more emotionally involving whenever Jay appears onscreen. Perhaps it is because in a redemptive tale, we, as the viewer, need a more grounded metaphor to cling on. Emily's quest to make new of herself (get a decent job, attire) — in order to gain back custody of the son she had abandoned all these years — enters a tangible realm that many of us can relate to.
As Jay's grizzled, aging guardian (Lee and Emily were bohos, not parents), Nick Nolte surprisingly adds a touch of emotional nuance that lifts the film out of its cold stretches. Nolte's Albrecht is naturally protective of Jay's welfare. He wants his grandson to lead a relatively stable life, shielding him away from the hedonistic lifestyle that destroyed his own son. But after his wife, Rosemary — Jay's grandma — falls critically ill, Albrecht begins to question his own morality. Who will take care of Jay once anything happens to Rosemary, and better yet, him?
It is a testament to Nolte's compelling performance that the film — which falters midway through — regains its humanistic composure in the final third act. In Nolte, we see how hard it can be to forgive and forget; Albrecht is not sure if Emily will, indeed, change for Jay's sake. Yet as Nolte gradually begins thinking more about Jay's future — and not as much upon the grudge he bears on Jay's mom all this time — he is able to give more than he can ever thought possible: to Jay, a mother he never knew, and to Emily, a second chance at life.
Notes
1. I do, however, want to note that Assayas does kind of redeem himself, aesthetically, in the last ten minutes of the film. The visual contrast between the enclosed recording studio setting Emily had just worked in and the expansive outdoors of San Francisco, she walks out of, thereafter, is pretty divine!
2. Cheung fared better in Irma Vep (1995), her first collaboration with Assayas. I also recommend seeing her in all those Wong Kar-Wai films [As Tears Go By (1988), Days of Being Wild (1991), In the Mood For Love (2000)] (she IS heartbreaking in every one of her WKW collaborations) ... But then again, what do I know? Cheung won the Best Actress award at Cannes for Clean. Do consider checking out these aforementioned films though.
