Clean is a 2004 film directed by French director Olivier Assayas, starring Nick Nolte and Maggie Cheung. It was jointly funded by Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.

Cast

• Maggie Cheung - Emily Wang
• Nick Nolte - Albrecht Hauser
• Béatrice Dalle - Elena, a friend of Emily
• Jeanne Balibar - Irene Paolini, Emily's former employer

Awards

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and Cheung's performance earned her the award for Best Actress at the festival.

Plot

Cheung plays Emily Wang, a former video jockey, who has been in a tempestuous relationship with Lee Hauser (played by James Johnston of The Bad Seeds), a rock musician, for several years. Lee's friends feel that Emily is bad for him, accusing her of being a junkie. As the film opens, the pair have arrived in Hamilton, Canada, to see another band perform. Their young son, Jay, is living in Vancouver with Lee's parents.

Following an argument in their motel room, Emily walks out on Lee, and after taking some heroin, falls asleep in her car. When she returns to the motel the following morning, she finds that Lee has died of a drug overdose, and the Ontario Provincial Police are investigating. As Emily attempts to force her way into the room to see Lee, the Police find the heroin in her bag, and she is arrested.

Emily spends six months in prison for possession, and upon her release, discovers that custody of her son has been awarded to his parents. She resolves to return to Paris, where she used to live before meeting Lee. Before she leaves, she briefly meets with Albrecht, Lee's father, played by Nick Nolte, who tells her that he would prefer that she not see Jay for a few years.

Emily begins work in a Chinese restaurant in Paris for some relatives, but does not enjoy it. She has become addicted to methadone, and her friends try to ensure that she can get prescriptions for the drug.

Meanwhile, Lee's mother, Martha (Martha Henry ) falls ill, and she and Albrecht travel to London with Jay, so that she can receive medical treatment. While they are there, Albrecht decides to bring Jay to Paris to meet with Emily, but the boy has been told by his grandmother that Emily was responsible for his father's death, and does not want to see her.

Emily eventually decides that she must try to get clean in order to be able to spend more time with her son. She stops taking methadone, and prepares for Jay's arrival. When the boy eventually meets his mother, she takes him to a zoo, and explains to him about her relationship with his father, and why they took drugs.

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