Clean, Shaven

Released 1994
Stars Peter Greene, Robert Albert, Megan Owen, Jennifer MacDonald, Molly Castelloe
Directed by Lodge Kerrigan

Peter Winter (Peter Greene) is a schizophrenic, and Clean, Shaven introduces us to his world, where paranoid delusions intermingle with reality. Through the use of viewpoint photography and stark, unusual images, we are brought into Peter's mind. It's not a pleasant place to be. Upon occasion, movies like to present a protagonist who straddles the line of sanity, but Clean, Shaven shows no such ambiguity. Peter is clinically insane. (One psychiatrist at the screening I attended described this as "the best portrayal of untreated schizophrenia ever [presented] on film.")

The story, which develops largely without dialogue, follows Peter's quest to locate his young daughter Nicole (Jennifer MacDonald). Having been institutionalized for the last several years, Peter has had no contact with Nicole, who had been living with her grandmother. Now, she has been adopted, and he is determined to find her. His intentions are profoundly unclear, and he is already under suspicion of having brutally murdered another young girl. A detective (Robert Albert) is on his trail, closing in while gathering evidence.

Summary written by James Berardinelli

I appreciated the harrowing story, Peter Greene's outstanding performance, and the ambiguity of Peter Winter's situation (did he really commit these crimes?), but the amateurish performances from the rest of the cast ruined the experience for me.

Bill Alward