Customer Reviews

Clean Shaven [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I caught attention of this hardly known gem at a local video store, noticing bold statements as "Dare to watch it" and "Boldest, most unforgettable film of the year." This is one film where you can believe the hype. Not since "Henry: Portrait of a serial killer" has a movie really shown an in-depth cinematic representation of the mind of a serial killer. But "Clean, Shaven" is a step above films like "Henry" and "Man Bites Dog". Winner of many awards, it tells a simple story of Peter Winter, a very dangerous schizophrenic just released from an institution, and his search for his daughter, while at the same time police are trying to catch up with him. Peter Greene is absolutely convincing as the deranged schizophrenic...he shows no emotion as he shaves his head and cuts his scalp in the process, nor is oblivous to pain during a very notable scene involving his fingernail and a very sharp object. And Kerrigan's excellent direction is what moves this film to near brillance...Instead of just telling the story with characters speaking to one another, he forces us into the mind of the schizophrenic. The movie is told mainly by images and sounds, as if what Winter was really experiencing...scenes are made unsettling by disturbing sampling and music, with long scenes of almost surreal images, intesifying the tension of the movie. After watching "Clean, Shaven", you'll have the feeling of meeting a real-life schizophrenic. Not many movies can boast this fact, nor make it realistic, but "Clean, Shaven" does that, and more. One of the most unforgettable films, indie or not, in the past few years.

My, oh my...This is the direction that more filmmakers should take. I don't believe that I have ever been so impressed by the imagery of a film from a first-time director as this. Lodge Kerrigan sees angles, shots, and displays mood better than most experienced directors, bar none. Picking Peter Greene to play the lonely schizophreneic is a stroke of casting genius, and all the more amazing, given Greene's penchant for self-destructiveness. The movie is very disturbing, particularly if you have children, and I wouldn't hesitate to keep them out of the viewing room, but the attention to detail is truly jawdropping, given the minute budget. This film was made over the course of 2 years, and although Greene doesn't appear to age, Kerrigan's film shows a tremendously well thought out visual flair. Visually, it reminded me of some early David Lynch works, minus the strange pointlessness and perverse sexuality. Altogether, a wonderful first effort, and an amazing, although largely unseen, performance from Greene. If you can keep your eyes on the screen, you will be shocked and mesmerized.

Clean, Shaven will shake the audience as they follow a young schizophrenic man frantically attempting to find his adopted daughter. The young man is traumatized by serious hallucinations and severe paranoia that emotionally and socially shake his everyday life . As the audience is following the footsteps of the young man, it is next to impossible to avoid attributing some additional characteristics to his other bizarre behaviors. These attributions will influence the audience's perception of the young man and his behavior among other people. Clean, Shaven uses the psychological disorder of a young man as an engine to create a story with true realism that will, in the end, cause pondering.

I'm French and I had read very good reviews about this movie, but I just saw it on TV a few weeks ago, under the name "Psychopath". I was really impressed. Sometimes it is rather difficult to watch it, because of the breathtaking atmosphere, and some scenes are really gorey. But it is one of the only films where you really get INTO the head of a schizophrenic, and it's frightening. The sound work is just incredible, with the mixed radio frequencies (even in French version). David Lynch's "Eraserhead" is maybe the only other film where, from the beginning to the end, experimental sound effects are so important. The plot is maybe just a bit light and blur, but Peter Greene has such a strong presence. And Lodge Kerrigan manages to bring some emotion in a very cold, clinic and stripped down filming: it's not just a brilliant stylish exercise, it's also a deeply moving human artwork. Definitely great, deserves to be discovered.

"clean shaven" is one of the most horrifyingly disturbing movies i've ever seen, and it is unbelievably depressing. i love insanity trip/art house/horror movies, but this movie was a little much even for me. i admired the movie enormously for the obvious value it has a red flag for how severely needy and intensely mentally ill people are simply unloved even by those who should love them most and how cold and unfeeling our society is towards them, but would not watch it again for twenty dollars. keep in mind, however, that if you're looking for art house' madness this ain't it, it's simply the real thing in sad, full, sickening color. this is not "fun" weird at all--this is just poignant and devastating filmmaking. the only thing i would criticize are the many questions left unanswered, such as who nicole's mother really was and how she died, how peter managed to even get out on the street, etc. but all in all this movie is one of the most powerful i've ever seen, and absolutely important. it almost made me want to cry, and movies never do that to me.

Clean, Shaven boasts a superb performance by Peter Greene, an incredibly tight script, wonderfully minimalist cinematography, and has some of the best, most memorable sound work this side of The Conversation.
(No less an authority than Roger Ebert named it one of his ten best films of 1994).

Kerrigan's debut(!) film... takes us straight inside the head of a recently released schizophrenic. I can't recall the last time a film took me so far into the mind of a character. It's a sad commentary on our society that the airbrushed, cleaned-up "A Beautiful Mind" is getting so much attention for its Hollywoodized portrayal of schizophrenia while few people have ever heard of this far better film. Not for the easily frightened, to be sure (the fingernail scene is with me still), but for those who still care about filmmaking as more than just mindless entertainment, it's here.

My only disappointment with the DVD is that we don't get commentaries from either Kerrigan or Greene, which would have been absolutely fascinating.

Truly one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen. Peter Green is dead-on as a paranoid schizophrenic as we go inside his mind to hear the voices, and experience his rage and terror. What is almost more disturbing is how those in the external world, even his mother, refuse to try to understand or trust him--he is a complete outsider and isolated from both himself and those he loves. Not a film for the faint of heart--especially the self-mutilation scenes, but worth a look for anyone interested in films that don't pander to their audience. This one practically attacks you with its imagery and point of view!

Few movies I've seen recently have left me in the same state of shock and awe that Clean, Shaven has. That's not to say it's a masterpiece of cinema or one of my favorite films or even that it's worthy of 5 stars. But it is a fascinating character study that is very effective and unsettling. I first heard of the film via The Criterion Collection website. I didn't read too much into it, but what I did hear was intriguing enough for me to want to see it. One big factor was reviewers who compared it to two of my favorite movies Spider and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. This film and those two have similarities, but I found those films more entertaining, more effective, and creepier than this one. This movie does, however, have moments where it will flawlessly mess with your head. Peter Greene (an actor that's probably best recognized as Zed from Pulp Fiction) plays Peter Winter, a man with Schizophrenia. Instead of presenting us with a straightforward narrative, writer/director/producer Lodge Kerrigan takes a different route. By the end of the film, we're not sure what's real and what exists only in the mind of the main character. To say the film has a plot would be inaccurate, although elements of it combine to form a sort-of plot. The movie begins by establishing its mood and form of storytelling. Strange disconnected sounds play on the soundtrack, while Peter freaks out in the corner of a cell. In the next scene, we see what directions this movie is going to take. Peter sits in his car, when a young girl appears in front of it. He gets out of the car and on the soundtrack what appears to be him beating her and the sounds of her screaming. Whether this actually occurs, or not, is never made clear. In the next scene, Peter (while driving) begins inexplicably taping newspaper to the windows of the car and putting tape over the rearview mirror. The basic plot is that Peter is looking for his daughter Nicole. Her mother is dead and she was left to be raised by her grandma, who gave her up for adoption. Meanwhile, a detective is looking for the murderer of a young girl. He's fascinated with the case, since the young girl was found lying a field in a dress that has no evidence of blood or anything else on it. The movie will not appeal to many viewers. It moves at a slow snail-pace in many scenes, which will cause the average viewer to turn it off. I kept thinking that if Vincent Gallo had an inspiration for the way The Brown Bunny was made, he probably used this film. Although, I need to add that, most viewers will find this movie more endurable than that one. One of the things that amazed me a lot about this movie was Peter Greene. I've seen him in Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, and The Mask but the man is, overall, an obsolete actor. Here he proves that he's very talented and has a lot of range. I'm surprised this film didn't lead him to more fruitful roles. I see a lot of movies and few of them, even the great ones, I want to watch again right away. This film was a movie I wanted to see again as soon as it was over. Not because I found it very entertaining, but because I don't think I was prepared for all the things it serves to you. This is definitely a movie people should check out.

GRADE: B+

This film addresses the gross misconceptions concerning schizophrenia that unfortunately still simmer in the public consciousness today. "Clean Shaven" systematically names and attacks these misconceptions. First, the film challenges the the prevailing idea that patients with schizophrenia are more dangerous than the average individual. Second, this film is untainted by embarrassing Freudian foolery. "Clean Shaven" mocks the once-cherished theory that schizophrenia is due to neurotic mothering, thrusting in its place a more enlightened ideology informed by genetic research as to the etiology of this pervasive and debilitating disease. This film is bone-chilling and, at times, reminiscent of Kubrick's "The Shining" in its dogged attempts to accurately depict a psychopathology that is grossly misrepresented in all forms of media.

This movie is incredible. I think Peter Greene gives one of the best performances I've ever seen committed to film. Some parts are difficult to watch, but the movie is rewarding and sad and is not at all your run-of-the-mill Hollywood garbage.

Not for the squeamish or the kiddies.