The mental state of the character and the overall rhythm of the film are synchronized, which is a typical example of the excellent cooperation between the writer, the director and the actor. However, I always feel that it is a bit too utilitarian to deal with such a subject that implies many aspects of the drama conflict into a one-man show. There are still some details in the play that are worthy of repair and enrichment. Fortunately, Assayas used a skillful lens language to create a convincing atmosphere of telling and dispelling the flaws in some scripts.

Pretty much since I saw Demonlover years ago, Olivier Assayas has been on my mind. Also since I saw Demonlover years ago, I've had a hard time building up the courage to explore his ouevre further. Frankly, this guy's good. And Demonlover is the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. Ergo, I really didn't feel like experiencing it again. Assayas' short on Paris, je t'aime certainly indicated as well that Demonlover was no lucky hit, this is a guy who knows how to form intense spacial relationships out of simple movement, and along with Danny Boyle seems to be the rare guy out there who can make hand-held cinematography look like carefully controlled blocking (is Assayas acknowledging that similar link with his use of Brain Eno's Ascent/The End similarly used by Boyle in 28 Days Later...?).Anyway, I finally got a chance to see another one of his movies, and it too, is good. Starring Maggie Cheung, Assayas' ex, right at the end of her relationship, it features the age-old story of a rock star who rocked a little too hard and fell into the wonderful grungy world of heroin until a personal tragedy forced her to reclaim her life and she slowly rebuilt her career.Okay, so the story's not that original. So why does it stand out so? First of all, Assayas is a very intelligent storyteller, and one of those few who puts dialog in the movie that can go right over people's heads without understanding the implications of it. In both Demonlover and Clean, characters decisions are almost always informed by business decisions. As Emily tries her best to pull herself together and rebuild her relationship with her son, nobody else has time to help her despite in many cases wanting to, basically because they have too much work to do or somewhere else to be. None of it is overtly hateful and Assayas is NOT making a simple "the music business is evol" statement--on the contrary, as soon as Emily gets herself on her feet the music industry is right back on her side and she is able to move forward as best she can, with everyone's help. Rather, everyone walking around is just too busy to help, and Emily is entirely on her own.Then there's Albrecht, superbly performed by Nick Nolte. He's probably the single best representation of the rote character that populates this sort of narrative as someone who helps sad little druggy get out of her mess, but in this case he doesn't tie her to a chair and quote pseudobiblical passages of love and tolerance or any of that idiocy. He's an imperfect character to and his strongest strength is his aged inability to handle Emily's problems in the first place. So instead, his approach is to give her as many chances as possible while being as straightforward and blunt as he possibly can be when he looks right into her eyes and tells her in so many words he doesn't trust her, but is willing to let her prove her trustworthiness. The relationship between these two is the most realized I can ever remember seeing in a movie on this subject. It blows all that sentimental crap out of the water, at least.It's not a perfect movie, however. The relationship between Emily and her son is well written but unfortunately relied on a child actor, and well, this child actor just didn't cut it. Our suspension of disbelief, meanwhile, relies on the idea that Emily was once or could be later a gifted musician, and Maggie Cheung... just didn't cut it. Her breathy and falsely restrained voice is like a woman trying to sing a grunge song she barely remembers to a bewildered music store clerk. Not easy to sit through, though lucky for us, it only happens twice in the movie, and the first time a character even says to her face it's not good.At any rate, Assayas seems very promising and I've gotta follow up with more of this stuff. I've noticed that his movies are almost always met with mixed reviews and a lot of love him or hate him emotional responses, but I think he's a more careful and intelligent director than the hate him people realize, and a little more interested in alienating his viewership than the love him people are willing to admit. Thus far it seems he takes a little bit of effort on the viewers' part, but he's willing to meet them halfway and give them something worth their effort if they're patient.--PolarisDiB

Olivier Assayas's 'Clean' takes an in depth look at the life of a young widow who tire to get her life back on track after her former life, that of sex, drugs and rock and roll ended in the death of her husband and a six-month prison sentence. The movie isn't as much about drugs as it is about the struggle of a woman to stay clean and turn her life around in order to prepare herself to be a better mother. The story is told with a lot of subtle dark undertones but it is told with sincerity and there is no pretension about it. Assayas really avoids clichés and his main intention really seems to be to tell a genuine human story. Maggie Cheung delivers a breathtaking performance as the desperate Emily Wang. This is perhaps her final film before she's moved into retirement (though I hope she does come back and do more films because it would be a waste of her talent). Her performance is subtle but it speaks volumes. Likewise, Nick Nolte does an equally amazing job as Emily's sympathetic and strong-minded father-in-law. It is easily one of his best performances. The supporting cast does well too. Beatrice Dalle especially stands out as Emily's friend. In addition, the soundtrack is pretty mesmerizing and it wonderfully adds to the film giving voice to the silent moments. 'Clean' is relevant film especially for those who have survived addiction and still struggle with it every day but that is not to say that it's another one of those preachy this-is-what-you-should-do movies. It has a universal appeal and if Maggie Cheung has chosen this as her last film then it's a fine choice (but of course I hope that she does come back to do more).

To get the full, globe-trotting flavor of "Clean," one need simply note that Emily Wang is a Chinese immigrant living in Paris with her British rock star boyfriend, and that their child is being raised by the young man's parents in Vancouver, Canada. All I can say is that "Babel" clearly has nothing on this film when it comes to international story lines spanning widely varying cultures and time zones.Though a French film, "Clean" actually begins in the English-speaking section of Canada where Emily and her husband, Lee Hauser, both heroin addicts, are desperately attempting to jumpstart Hauser's fading music career. The couple seems to be patterned somewhat after John Lennon and Yoko Ono, since everyone around them seems to think that Emily's undue influence on him is bringing him down both personally and professionally. When Hauser dies of a drug overdose, Emily - who earned some renown of her own as a music show hostess on an MTV-style interview show on French TV a decade or so back - is arrested for heroin possession and sentenced to six months in prison. Upon her release, she returns to Paris, agreeing not to have any contact with her son until she can kick her drug habit and make a decent life for herself.As a cautionary tale about drug addiction in the music business, "Clean" doesn't show us anything we haven't already seen in countless films (and VH-1 specials) on this very same subject before. Yet, although the movie is a bit too scattered in its focus at times, when it is zeroing in on the things that really matter - Emily's attempts at overcoming her addiction and her efforts at forging a meaningful relationship with her young son - it is poignant, profound and deeply touching. The movie is blessed with a pair of outstanding performances by Maggie Cheung as Emily and Nick Nolte as Hauser's father, a kindhearted soul who believes in forgiveness and who offers a helping hand to a woman whose life, despite all her best efforts, is constantly teetering on the edge of disaster. Their scenes together, as the two characters reveal their fears, insecurities and even tentative hopes to one another, are both spellbinding and breathtaking, and show us what fine movie acting is really all about.