If the meaning in Olivier Assayas' CLEAN is to be found by reading in between the lines, by listening hard during breathy pauses, or by paying extra close attention as characters vacantly survey one another then fine...but this isn't my idea of a good time. CLEAN just is what it is, I suppose. It lays out its story with dispassionate realism, with an observational neutrality that is nether revealing nor involving. Obviously someone must have loved this film enough to make it, and to distribute it. I just don't understand why.
I suppose I do get that Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is a burned out shell of a human being, and that the only thing pulling her back is the threat that she will no longer be allowed to see her son. Does this make her an interesting character? Her motives are selfish. That's ok I guess, that's realistic, fine. But one has to wonder if this character wants to get better for herself as well. Is there anything that lies beneath? Does she have any self esteem? I'm just not sure. It ain't on the page. The movie certainly doesn't tell us enough about her as a person. The script jumps around with little character development and basically shows us that Wang was an addict and everyone talks about it but we never really see this struggle in the actress in any meaningful way. We skip the rehab scenes that might have followed the husband's death. We go right to the Kramer vs. Kramer "I hate you mommy because you killed daddy" sub-plot.
I really don't hate this film as much as this review might make it seem. It's just that the movie feels neither here nor there, and it's a bothersome thing to have to invest time in it. I have no idea who this woman is except that she is a former addict who wants her son. One gleans more about human nature by watching the average episode of Big Brother 5 on CBS. And that show sucks.
One saving grace in this film is Nick Nolte. The restraint of his performance works well, along with the film's minimalist approach. You can see that he is straining as he attempts to do the right thing in his relations with Cheung's character. He is holding back as much as he is giving out. And this works within the confines of the script. In the case of Nolte, we learn about his character by watching him behave with restraint. Can anyone say, "this is how to write a character"?
Next time it would be nice to watch a movie that is not completely comatose, preferably not featuring a character that is blank and expressionless. Yes, that would be very nice.
Just the thought of a character who is not as dry as a bone is making me feel like I can breathe again. Very slowly, the blood is returning to my veins. Now then, I'm beginning to feel better already.