CLEAN, SHAVEN
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1995 Christopher Null
Faster than you can say, "Toys in the attic," it becomes painfully aware that Peter Winter (Peter Greene), the main character of Lodge H. Kerrigan's new film, is not quite right.
CLEAN, SHAVEN is a brief but extremely powerful look at a page from the life of a schizophrenic who is on a quest to see his daughter who has been taken from him. Peter's mental illness, we discover, is a little more than a small problem, creating in him a near-constant need to be clean and free of body hair. Throughout the film, Peter is constantly shaving, in an attempt to rid himself of the "receiver and transmitter" that he believes are housed within his body.
Peter makes it to the village where his daughter Nicole (Jennifer MacDonald) lives, only to find himself hunted by the police. The reason? Alongside Peter's arrival in town came the slaughter of a local young girl. The cops figure Nicole is next. Everyone *always* blames it on the psychos.
Clocking in at a spare 80 minutes, CLEAN, SHAVEN looks more like an episode of "The X-Files" than a feature film, yet manages to pack more punch than most films twice its length. The feel is that of a documentary, and the picture appears so real at times that it's hard to remember it's a fantasy. Kerrigan has created a creepy, disturbing, and graphic atmosphere. Dialogue is hardly required to get the emotions of Peter across: you can see it in his face, and in his actions. In fact, Peter goes so far as to cut off his fingernail (in vivid color) in order to get "the transmitter" out of his system. The collective groaning in a crowded theater must be tremendous.
This movie is definitely not for everyone. I'm not even sure if it's for *anyone,* but the bottom line is that CLEAN, SHAVEN is a spectacular example of how movies should be made. Greene deserves an Oscar nod for his work here, playing Peter so well as to make Norman Bates look like Mr. Rogers. Another hand goes to Kerrigan's direction, which plays perfectly off of Greene's acting.
If you go, be *sure* you know what you're getting in to. This one is definitely not for the faint of heart.
RATING: ****
+-------------------------------+ |* Unquestionably awful | |** Sub-par on many levels | |*** Average, hits and misses | |**** Good, memorable film | |***** Perfection | +-------------------------------+
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