Clean, Shaven

The film begins with abstract images and sounds in the director's interpretation of schizophrenia. Peter Winter has recently been released from a mental institution and upon his release, must try to experience and understand a world that is all but foreign to him. Beginning the search for his daughter Nicole, Peter's car is hit by a soccer ball. A young girl looks from beyond his windshield at him, and he gets out of the car. No actual images of the girl are shown after Peter exits his car, but the screams of a young girl are heard as if Peter is beating her. He carries a large orange bag into his trunk, and the audience is meant to presume that Peter killed this little girl. Peter returns home, where sounds invade his very being, and he is never completely at rest. He believes that there is a transmitter beneath the skin on his head and he proceeds to remove it. Peter is also disturbed by mirrors, and typically covers up any mirrors that he can access. The car that Peter drives becomes encased in newspaper, and he isolates himself from the outside world. Peter comes back home to find his mother Mrs. Winter still very disturbed about Peter's schizophrenia. She still treats Peter as a child, and does not want him to find his daughter. Peter, through his travels, becomes wrapped up in the investigation of the murder of another young girl. Jack McNally, the detective on the case, is stymied because there is almost no evidence at the scene of the crime. Peter becomes a suspect in the case, but nothing found at the crime scene or in Peter's hotel room can link him to the murder. That does not stop the detective from following Peter after he kidnaps his daughter from her adoptive mother. Just as Peter begins to reconcile himself with his daughter, McNally shows up, desperate to take Peter in as the murderer. Peter foolishly takes out a gun and aims it at the police officer to try to protect his daughter from McNally. McNally, believing that what he is seeing is the dead body of Peter's daughter, opens fire on Peter, killing him. He finds the girl to be safe and fires Peter's gun in the air, so that he would not be charged for shooting a man unnecessarily. He then opens the orange bag and finds nothing but newspaper inside. == Cast ==

Director Lodge Kerrigan said the inspiration for the film came from a friend who had schizophrenia. The production took place over a noncontinuous period of two years due to its piecemeal financing. ==Reception==

Release The film had its world premiere on September 5, 1993, at the Telluride Film Festival and received rave reviews. The film was released theatrically in the United States on one screen in Chicago on March 31, 1995, and grossed $5,900 in its opening week. Critical response The film has a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews. Writing of the film's Chicago premiere, Roger Ebert awarded the film with stars out of four and described it as "a harrowing, exhausting, painful film, and a very good one - a film that will not appeal to most filmgoers, but will be valued by anyone with a serious interest in schizophrenia or, for that matter, in film." Ebert called Greene's performance one of "great power and nerve" and concluded,The film has been cited as a favorite by filmmaker John Waters, who presented it as his annual selection within the 2000 Maryland Film Festival. Accolades Kerrigan won the award for Best First Feature at the 1993 Chicago International Film Festival. In 1995, Lodge Kerrigan won the Independent Spirit Award for Someone to Watch and was also nominated for Best First Feature. == Home media ==

Clean, Shaven was later released on DVD on January 4, 2000. On October 17, 2006, the film was re-released on DVD by The Criterion Collection. == References ==