‘IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE
BEEN ON SET AND NOT BEEN
TREATED LIKE AN ANGEL’
A clean break
Kaleem Aftab talks to the couple behind Clean, estranged husband and wife team MAGGIE CHEUNG and Oliver Assayas — in separate rooms.
liver Assayas (inset) and Maggie Cheung are
cinema‘s real odd couple. They first met in
I996 when the auteur asked Cheung. already the iconic veteran of over 70 Hong Kong films. to come to Paris to star in the fabulous Irma Vep. On the six—week shoot. the son of legendary screenwriter Jacques Remy and his then 31-year-old leading-lady fell in love. The film was a box-office sensation and their careers took a giant moon step forward. All looked rosy.
Almost a decade later. Assayas had gone on to receive more acclaim with each film. Late August. Early September and Alice and Martin. Even the 50- year-old‘s first English language film. Demon/over. is slowly gathering cult status. His latest. Clean. set in the lurid music world of Ontario. London and Paris. stars Cheung as Emily Wang. the heroin-addicted partner of a dead rock star who tries to get her life back on track to get custody of son.
The auteur has a very cerebral manner of speech that comes straight from his privileged French schooling. It is evident too in his writing and can most clearly be seen in his excellent I990 tome. Conversatimzs with Bergman. On Clean. he waxed lyrical. ‘I always feel that music is so connected to
the present. The way it happens and transforms itself
is so connected to the way the world is changing and it is the most relevant form of modern poetry. And somehow I feel that music is so in touch with the world. Clean deals with a notion of internationalism. Having been married to Cheung. Assayas must know all about international love and both their
careers have recently gone from strength to strength. The two films that stick in mind are both period. Wong Kai Wai’s fabulous In the Mum/for Love and Yimou Zhang's audacious Hem. While in her early career she seemed to take any role that came her way. She has recently been far more selective about where she puts her fabulous cheekbones on show.
While everything may have seemed perfect in their careers. at home they were well on the road to divorce. Even so. they both agreed to continue with Clean. a film that Assayas had written for Cheung to play the lead. The woman who won the best actress award at Cannes 2004 for her performance in it says: ‘l‘m quite like her. There‘s this stubbornness and will to light back. I think that‘s to do with the fact that Oliver wanted me for this role he‘d written and he knows me better than anyone. But it's funny. it was the first time I‘ve been on set and not been treated like an angel. There was no more please and thank you. Maybe he didn‘t want people to think 1 was getting special treatment.‘
The couple are both talking in a London hotel and they couldn’t look any more different. He is rigid. balding and tall: she moves like a butterfly. But there cannot be a direct comparison as they are in completely different parts of the hotel. The rumour is they don‘t talk. Whatever the truth about the state of their relationship post-divorce. one thing is for sure: when they work together. they produce their best work.
Clean is at GFT, Glasgow from Fri 15 Jul. See review, page 45.
* Punishment Park Re- release of Peter Culloden Watkins' stunning and shamefully overlooked 1971 pseudo documentary about persecution parks for free thinkers and idealists during the Nixon administration. See review, page 46. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh (Fri 75—Mon 78 only) and GFf, Glasgow (Wed 20 8 Thu 27 Jul only).
* Heimat 3 Excellent third instalment of Edgar Reitz's remarkable epic familial drama. See review. page 47. Filmhouse, Edinburgh (Fri 8—Thu 74 Jul only).
* hoplcal Malady Bemusing but deeply lyrical Thai drama — a homosexual journey to the heart of darkness in the jungles of Siam. See review, page 49. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh.
* The Descent Solid and thrilling British potholing horror flick from the director of Dog Soldiers. See review. page 46. General release.
* Clean Maggie Cheung goes cold turkey in the rock'n‘roll scene in Canada. See interview, page left and review, page 47. GFI’, Glasgow.
* FestivaI Darkly funny ensemble drama set during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. See feature. page 14. and review. page 48. General release.
* Stander Seriously underrated South African crime drama. Fi/mhouse, Edinburgh (Fri 8—Mon 7 7 Jul only).
* Beckett on Film All 19 of Beckett’s plays transposed onto film by high calibre filmmakers. Out now on DVD. See review. page 50. (Tyrone Productions).
* House of Wax 1953 Grand Guignol classic out on DVD. Also features 1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum as a tasty extra. Out now. See review, page 50. (Warner Home Video).
1' 21 .Jul 2001') THE LIST 45