Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Maggie Cheung | ... | Emily Wang | |
Nick Nolte | ... | Albrecht Hauser | |
Béatrice Dalle | ... | Elena | |
Jeanne Balibar | ... | Irene Paolini | |
Don McKellar | ... | Vernon | |
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Martha Henry | ... | Rosemary Hauser |
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James Johnston | ... | Lee Hauser |
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James Dennis | ... | Jay |
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Rémi Martin | ... | Jean-Pierre |
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Laetitia Spigarelli | ... | Sandrine |
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Arnaud Churin | ... | Store Manager |
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Man Kit Cheung | ... | Restaurant Owner |
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Kurtys Kidd | ... | Detective |
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Shaun Austin-Olsen | ... | Record Label Owner |
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Jodi Crawford | ... | Gloria |
London-based Emily Wang gained minor notoriety from her VJ-ing on cable television. She is now more renowned for being the longtime girlfriend and pseudo manager of rock musician Lee Hauser, who seems to be on the brink of stardom. Those that know the couple believe she is a bad influence on him, and is the reason why he is a junkie. After Lee dies from an accidental heroin overdose and Emily is imprisoned for six months on possession charges, she learns that the courts have awarded custody of their young adolescent son, Jay, to Lee's aging parents, Albrecht and Rosemary Hauser, who live in Vancouver. A concerned Albrecht asks that she not attempt to see Jay for at least two years while she cleans up her act so as to give Jay a fighting chance at a decent life. Emily initially agrees, knowing that she is in no position to look after Jay. To regain her life, she decides to move back to her old stomping grounds of Paris. As Emily tries mostly unsuccessfully to become clean while eking ... Written by Huggo
Saw Clean today at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, starring Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte. Cheung and director/screenwriter Olivier Assayas were present to introduce the movie and showed up afterwards for a Q&A session. Clean stars Cheung as the drug-addicted wife of a once-good rock musician who, after a tragedy, must clean herself up and set her life back on track to regain custody of her son from his grandparents (played by Nick Nolte and Martha Henry). Don McKellar also makes an appearance early in the film as a business associate of Cheung's husband. The movie moves between Hamilton (!), Vancouver, Paris, and London as Cheung struggles to redefine her life. Clean was a great movie, and it's easy to see how Maggie Cheung picked up the best actress award at Cannes this year. And Assayas even made a dingy, industrial shoreline in Hamilton appear as a beautiful backdrop to one scene of Cheung taking drugs to escape the conflict in her life.
Some tidbits from the Q&A: