Clean, Shaven - Criterion Collection

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Amidst a glut of more conventional independent films in the mid-1990s, Lodge Kerrigan's Clean, Shaven signaled the arrival of a gifted filmmaker with a singular vision. A controversial sensation on the film festival circuit when released in 1994, this riveting first feature (filmed over a two-year period on a meager budget of $60,000) is perhaps the first film to authentically convey the subjective experience of schizophrenia. This all-too-common mental illness essentially serves as a substitute for plot; instead of telling a conventional story of a murder investigation, Kerrigan leaves crucial details ambiguous as he focuses on the tormented existence of a young man named Peter (played by Peter Greene in a brave debut performance) who may or may not have brutally killed a young girl in one of the film's early scenes. His world--or rather, the world as perceived by his dysfunctional brain--is metaphorically compared to the random tuning of a radio, as schizophrenia prevents Peter from forming a cohesive reality out of the sights and sounds that constantly invade his consciousness. To express this fractured perception in cinematic terms, Kerrigan uses a truly extraordinary soundtrack--worthy of comparison to David Lynch's Eraserhead--that's frequently divorced from the visuals, emphasizing the disorienting symptoms of Peter's illness. The effect is both fascinating and deeply disturbing, especially in a notorious scene (definitely not for the squeamish) in which Peter removes one of his fingernails for reasons best left for viewers to discover. It's one of the creepiest, most unsettling moments in the history of American independent cinema, but it's also one of the things that makes Clean, Shaven a timeless and sensitively compassionate study of a condition that's mysterious and frequently misunderstood. A full decade later, Kerrigan would return to the subject of mental illness with his critically acclaimed film Keane, and David Cronenberg's Spider covers similar territory with equally unsettling results. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVD
Criterion's DVD release of Clean, Shaven is far superior to Fox Lorber's DVD release from 2000. In addition to an all-new, high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Lodge Kerrigan, the DVD also includes a feature-length commentary/interview between Kerrigan and fellow director Steven Soderbergh, who became fast friends and colleagues after they met at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. An astute interviewer in his own right, Soderbergh (who served as an executive producer of Kerrigan's 2004 film Keane) grills Kerrigan on all aspects of the making of Clean, Shaven and the various circumstances that directors must be prepared to deal with, from working with children to creatively accommodating the limitations of a "no-budget" production. Film critic Michael Atkinson contributes an audio-visual essay titled "A Subjective Assault," focusing specifically on Kerrigan's highly effective use of sound to convey the symptoms and disorienting reality of schizophrenia, and how this innovative soundtrack plays into the film's overall audio-visual strategy. Also included are eight segments of the film's original soundtrack, downloadable as MP3 files, and a booklet essay on the film by film critic Dennis Lim. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Lodge Kerrigan began his succession of utterly unique, visually and aurally dazzling character studies with the raw, ravaging Clean, Shaven. A compelling headfirst dive into the mindscape of a schizophrenic (played by the remarkable Peter Greene) as he tries to track down his birth daughter after he is released from an institution, Kerrigan's film brilliantly uses sound and image to lead audiences into a terrifying subjectivity. No one is left unscathed.

Customer Reviews:

Clean, Shaven.......2007-07-11

This chilling psychological thriller by first-time director Kerrigan was filmed over two years off the coast of New Brunswick, and was one of the first films to depict the agonizing, subjective experience of schizophrenia. With insight and sensitivity, Greene conveys the inner compulsions and emotional turbulence of his character with dead-on authenticity. Kerrigan's innovative use of sound--radio transmissions and white noise--and tight control over the reality of Peter's delusions (are they ours or his?) keeps the question of his guilt suspended until the very end. Note of caution: "Clean, Shaven" is not for everyone (especially if you're squeamish about self-mutilation), but it's an enthralling and utterly gripping mystery nevertheless.

Greene is amazing!.......2007-05-02

Clean, Shaven is a classic little gem, with Peter Greene's best ever performance. He plays a very disturbed young man and is incredibly good at it.
This "Criterion" Edition with Commentary is just what the doctor ordered.
Contains some very queasy, uneasy little scenes. Highly recommended.

A Challenging And Complex Invitation Into The Mouth Of Schizophrenia.......2007-02-12

Mental illness, and specifically schizophrenia, in film has always posed a challenging dilemma. Representing the disease accurately may not always be easy from a filmic, and thus primarily visual, standpoint since so much of it is an internalized issue. How do you convey that inner turmoil without being cliche' or oversimplifying an extremely complex topic? "Clean, Shaven," especially for such a low budget picture, does an excellent job getting to the heart of the matter. Lodge Kerrigan's small film employs great technical prowess to put you into the unsettling mindset of its lead character, played by Peter Greene.

The story is very simple. Greene, recently released from an institution but hardly well, makes a trip to find his daughter. Having left her with his mother, she has since been put with a woman who has adopted her. To establish the mood of the piece, the first 20 minutes are played completely silently by Greene. Instead, the soundtrack is filled with discordant noise (including a recurrent radio tuner) and a cacophony of jumbled voices that provide a little backstory. This ambient noise is supplemented by a unique visual style. The dramatic action, or narrative, is interspersed with unusual close-ups of mundane objects with occasional flashes of violence. It sets the mood perfectly, and the style becomes the major success of the film. Greene, who has a genuinely creepy appeal, is great in the lead. Registering much of his performance with facial expression, it is a powerful study of someone falling apart--yet still seeking peace.

My one reservation about "Clean, Shaven" comes from the detective character who is following Greene throughout the film. We never know much about him--specifically why he's tracking Greene or how he made a connection that Greene was an individual that he wished to follow. He shows up, somewhat conveniently, to interview various people who have come in contact with the subject and even (somewhat randomly) begins a relationship with the adoptive mother of Greene's daughter. It's all very ambiguous--but perhaps that's its intent. The film has such a dreamlike, almost surreal quality, its goal is never to provide a conventional narrative. Still, I lacked some understanding that would have made me appreciate the film more.

Certainly not for every audience, "Clean, Shaven" provides a fascinating filmic view of schizophrenia. Many people will not find this an entertaining diversion. However, if the topic interests you--this film has a lot of artistic merit, visual and audio interest, and a terrific lead performance. So check it out. KGHarris, 02/07.

Horrible.......2007-02-11

DO NOT WATCH THIS GARBAGE! This is the worst movie I have ever seen. I'm honestly upset with the other reviewers here for misleading me so badly. This film is so bad, with so many problems I don't know where to even begin. I can only hope that someone on the verge of watching this changes their mind after reading this review. If I saved one person from buying/watching this disaster, then I have done my job. At the very least buy it from the used bin, that's where mine will be.

perhaps paper reflects better than glass.......2007-01-18

"I Can Help Make the Dream That Obsesses You Come True Quickly." So reads a newspaper advertisement, spread across a schizophrenic man's car window. Every glass surface on the vehicle, including rear and side-view mirrors, is covered in crumpled paper torn from a tabloid supermarket rag. Peter (Peter Greene, known to most as Zed from Pulp Fiction) doesn't like to see his own reflection. He drives along in his cocoon, insulated with monster babies, aliens, Elvis, and Playboy Playmates on killing sprees. Perhaps paper reflects better than glass.

Peter has other idiosyncrasies, to put it mildly. His morning coffee is poured into three cups, with great effort made to ensure equal levels of milk and sugar. He carries with him a torn photograph of a baby girl, probably his own (a plot device revisited in director Lodge Kerrigan's later picture, Keane), but we have to be careful with our assumptions. He also believes there to be a transistor under one of his fingernails, placed there during a scarring mental hospital sojourn. There's a corresponding receiver in his scalp - his attempts to remove these items are some of the more unsettling things you'll see put to film. Whether he succeeds or not is a matter a perspective, much like the rest of Clean, Shaven. It works well enough for him, so judge not lest ye be judged.

Peter's senses, like our own, are unreliable, colored by preconceptions and social forces. What we experience is not objective - Clean, Shaven demonstrates this, not simply by submerging us in Peter's warped, subjective point of view, but with reminders that our own point of view (specifically in regards to Peter) is warped as well. Guilt and innocence, as much as these concepts exist, are not so easily determined. Neither are "crazy" and "sane" (indeed, Clean, Shaven is most effective when we're forced to reexamine our own preconceived notions about mental illness). Life is often a collection of random images and sounds, white noise that can overwhelm us if we let it. Our ability to hear, and process what is heard, is based as much on what we tune out as what we tune in. Peter can't tune things out and for that he is "sick." We who are "healthy" are better at this, but I wonder how much better.

Clean, Shaven has a plot, barely (running time is a fleeting 80 minutes), centering on two parallel quests: Peter's search for someone who may or may not be his daughter and a police detective searching for Peter in connection with a murdered girl. The two men share some overt similarities - obsession with procedure and minutiae, the corporeal, proneness to violent outbursts. Kerrigan is a smart director, so this kind of narrative/character congruity (cop and criminal are of one mind), lazy cliché in the hands of another, is at least tolerably subtle here. I imagine it's simply a nod to genre, or even an indictment of audience expectations. Perhaps it's filmmaker immaturity (it is his first picture, after all), but I'm willing to give Kerrigan the benefit of the doubt.

That's my own prejudice, but at least I'm honest about it.

Interesting footnote: In 2005, John Waters was asked to curate a series of films, with introduction and commentary, for "America's premier gay television network" Here! TV. John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You ran thirteen pictures, all with positive gay themes, the two notable exceptions being Irreversible (whose homophobic content frankly makes it a surprising selection to me) and Clean, Shaven.

Average customer rating:

Clean, Shaven
Greene is amazing!
A Challenging And Complex Invitation Into The Mouth Of Schizophrenia
Horrible
perhaps paper reflects better than glass

Clean, Shaven
Starring: Peter Greene , Alice Levitt , Megan Owen , Jennifer MacDonald (II) , and Molly Castelloe
Director: Lodge Kerrigan
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000034DDK
Release Date: 2000-01-04

Amazon.com

Description

A story of a schizophrenic man's desperate search for his young daughter. Scene Access, Interactive Menus, Filmographies, Original Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Clean, Shaven.......2007-07-11

Greene is amazing!.......2007-05-02

A Challenging And Complex Invitation Into The Mouth Of Schizophrenia.......2007-02-12

Horrible.......2007-02-11

perhaps paper reflects better than glass.......2007-01-18

Hot,wet,clean Shaven P?ssy!! 4 Hours of Clean Hot Women!!

Average customer rating:

Hot,wet,clean Shaven P?ssy!! 4 Hours of Clean Hot Women!!

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

NEW
4 HOURS

ASIN: B000UM0O18

Product Description

This dvd has 4 hours of clean women in action!!

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