A summery of the narrative makes the film seem like a series of cliches. On a superficial level this may be true. Even having a heroin addict rock star and his Asian wife clearly evokes the legend of John and Yoko. Where Assayas does not take short cuts is in giving his characters their dignity as well as a sense of intelligence and humanity. Nick Nolte has the opportunity to have the kind of multifaceted performance he is denied in other movies as Cheung's father-in-law. By turns Nolte is warm, tough, pragmatic and certainly nobody's fool. Nolte even conveys his character's sense of being a bit above his head at a record company meeting, determining the marketing of his son's albums. Without having to explain himself verbally, one can see that Nolte's character is more comfortable in his remote Canadian town, than dealing with art and business in London. When Cheung's screen son repeats his grandmother's statement that drug addicts are weak, Cheung patiently explains that the reasons for addiction are complicated. Unlike most recent American film that present broad characters and disallow ambiguity, the characters in Clean have individual shadings.

As a movie about the rock music world, the soundtrack is eclectic. Tricky, who I haven't heard in quite a while, appears as himself and is filmed in performance. Three older instrumental pieces from Brian Eno are used. Maggie Cheung also sings, in character, in English, quite well. Interestingly, unlike many of her peers, Cheung isn't a Canto-pop performer such as her Heroic Trio co-star, Anita Mui.

For some comments from Cheung and Assayas at the Cannes Film Festival check here.