Clean

• Maggie Cheung (2046) gives a bravura performance as a complex, troubled woman who is trying to forge a bond with her young son, while at the same time healing and distancing herself from a past full of drugs, jail, and turbulent relationships. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R Age: 660200313722 UPC: 660200313722 Manufacturer No: PALMDV3137

Two snake demons and their love-hate relationships with mortal men is a dazzling visual feast filled with unforgettable images. Features: dolby digital sound. Languages: cantonese mandarin english and chinese subtitles. Trailers chapters. Studio: Tai Seng Entertainment Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: Maggie Cheung Run time: 98 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Tsui HarkA Hong Kong combination of Batman and The Three Musketeers, The Heroic Trio is a winning mix of action, sci-fi, fantasy, and police caper starring three o! utstanding Hong Kong actresses. Former popular singer Anita Mui is Tung/Wonder Woman, a mysterious crime fighter who aids the police whenever needed. Michelle Yeoh is Ching/Invisible Woman, an unwilling disciple to an age-old Evil Master, and Maggie Cheung is Chat/Thief Catcher, a runaway enlisted by the Evil Master who is now a bounty hunter for hire. When baby boys are being stolen for a horrific plan, Tung assists in the investigation while Chat plans to make some bucks off of catching the culprit. The baby thief is none other than Ching, who is carrying out the kidnappings for the Evil Master with the aid of her lover's invention--an invisible robe. But the good in her wins out, and she joins forces with Tung and Chat. This is a superhero film, to be sure. Fantastic sets and impressive wire-strung fight choreography make The Heroic Trio extremely fun to watch. Wonder Woman enters the picture by running full-tilt atop power lines while Chat rides a motorcycle and ! wields a shotgun like the Terminator. The outlandish and compl! icated p lot seems right at home here, heightened by the moody lighting and the combined screen presence of Mui, Yeoh, and Cheung. All three give fierce and touching performances in a hyperbolic and enjoyable film. --Shannon GeeEmily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is a woman who wrestles with her dream of becoming a singer, her fitness as a mother, and daily life without her partner Lee (James Johnston). Her past is riddled with drugs and regrets, the result of which left Lee dead in a desolate motel room in Hamilton, Ontario, and landed Emily with a six-month jail sentence. The only thing that she desires for the future is a loving relationship with her son Jay, who is being cared for by Lee’s parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry). While Rosemary blames Emily for the death of Lee, Albrecht recognizes the importance of the bond between a mother and her son, and his faith sets the standard for the faith Emily must find in herself. CLEAN follows Emily to Hamilto! n, Paris, London and San Francisco and in three languages, as she battle for a place in a world reluctant to forget the woman she has been and unwilling to accept her as the woman she longs to be.After the uncharacteristically epic Les Destinées and surprisingly cynical Demonlover, Olivier Assayas got his groove back with the cautiously optimistic Clean. Granted, the globe-trotting tale gets off to a grim start, but the grace notes gradually begin to accumulate. Corkscrew-coiffed Emily (Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung) is the outspoken lover of struggling musician Lee (James Johnston, formerly of Brit band Gallon Drunk). She's also a heroin addict, just like her partner. When he dies from an overdose, she does time for possession, while his Canadian parents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte in a nicely-shaded performance) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), gain custody of son Jay (James Dennis). Upon release, Emily returns to France to find work, stay clean, and earn ! the right to reclaim her child. Except for Albrecht, no one be! lieves s he can pull it off. Worse yet, many hold her responsible for Lee's death. (The echoes of Courtney Love and Yoko Ono can't be coincidental.) A decade has passed since Assayas directed Cheung in the dazzling Irma Vep. Since that time, they married and divorced, but the professional relationship persists, culminating in a Best Actress award at Cannes for a performance that calls for dialogue in English, French, and Cantonese--even some singing. As suggested by the title, Clean is cool and somewhat detached, an effect reinforced by Éric Gautier's crisp cinematography and a soundtrack heavy on early Eno, but it sidesteps the histrionics frequently associated with the recovery film. Featuring Tricky and David Roback (Mazzy Star) as themselves. --Kathleen C. Fennessy