After she ends up in prison and loses custody of her son, a woman struggles to assimilate outside her former life and remain clean long enough to regain custody of her son.
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Awards:
- 2 wins & 9 nominations.
- See more »
Photos and Videos
Complete, Cast awaiting verification
| Maggie Cheung | ... |
Emily Wang
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| Nick Nolte | ... |
Albrecht Hauser
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| Béatrice Dalle | ... |
Elena
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| Jeanne Balibar | ... |
Irene Paolini
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| Don McKellar | ... |
Vernon
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Martha Henry | ... |
Rosemary Hauser
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James Johnston | ... |
Lee Hauser
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James Dennis | ... |
Jay
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Rémi Martin | ... |
Jean-Pierre
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Laetitia Spigarelli | ... |
Sandrine
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Arnaud Churin | ... |
Store Manager
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Man Kit Cheung | ... |
Restaurant Owner
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| Kurtys Kidd | ... |
Detective
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Shaun Austin-Olsen | ... |
Record Label Owner
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Jodi Crawford | ... |
Gloria
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Philip Ross McKie | ... |
Vancouver Police 1
(as Ross McKie)
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| Calum de Hartog | ... |
Vancouver Police 2
(as Calum deHartog)
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Clare-Marie Grigg | ... |
Cafeteria Nurse
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Paul Brogen | ... |
Motel Clerk
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Xray | ... |
Themselves
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| Joana Preiss | ... |
Aline
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David Salsedo | ... |
Jeff
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Mike Hoong | ... |
Waiter In Restaurant
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Régis Vidal | ... |
Alexis
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Jürgen Doering | ... |
Irene Paolini's Fan
(as Jurgen Doering)
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Shaun Matheson | ... |
Police Officer 1
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| John Stoneham Jr. | ... |
Police Officer 2
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Michelle Palmateer | ... |
Avis Agent
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Paraskevi Antonarakis | ... |
Manager Of Diner
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Shannon Novak | ... |
Record Label Employee
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| Tricky | ... |
Self
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David Roback | ... |
Self
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| Elizabeth Densmore | ... |
Self
(as Liz Densmore)
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| Emily Haines | ... |
Self - Metric
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James Shaw | ... |
Self - Metric
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Joshua Winstead | ... |
Self - Metric
(as Josh Winstead)
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Joules Scott-Key | ... |
Self - Metric
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Isabelle Lardin | ... |
(uncredited)
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Directed by
| Olivier Assayas | ||
Written by
| Olivier Assayas | ... | (written by) |
Produced by
| Nathalie Choukroun-Lacoste | ... | co-producer |
| Jean Coulon | ... | associate producer |
| Claude Davy | ... | associate producer |
| Niv Fichman | ... | producer |
| Sari Friedland | ... | line producer |
| Xavier Giannoli | ... | producer |
| Daniel Iron | ... | co-producer |
| Xavier Marchand | ... | producer |
| Jane Moore | ... | co-producer |
| Aline Perry | ... | executive producer |
| Rupert Preston | ... | executive producer |
| Frédéric Sauvagnac | ... | line producer |
| Edouard Weil | ... | producer |
Music by
| Brian Eno | ||
| David Roback | ||
| Tricky | ||
Cinematography by
| Eric Gautier | ||
Editing by
| Luc Barnier | ||
Editorial Department
| Matt Cahill | ... | post-production coordinator: Canada |
| Julie Delord | ... | second assistant editor |
| Isabelle Julien | ... | color grader |
| Sophie Lustière | ... | color grader |
| Marion Monnier | ... | assistant editor |
Casting By
| Shaheen Baig | ||
| Antoinette Boulat | ||
| John Buchan | ||
| Millie Tom | ||
| Isabelle Ungaro | ||
Production Design by
| William Fleming | ... | (as Bill Fleming) |
| François-Renaud Labarthe | ||
Set Decoration by
| Cécilia Blom | ||
| Ian Greig | ||
Costume Design by
| Anaïs Romand | ||
Makeup Department
| Franck-Pascal Alquinet | ... | hair stylist |
| Debra Johnson | ... | key hair stylist |
| Thi-Loan Nguyen | ... | makeup artist |
Production Management
| Reza Boirahmady | ... | assistant unit manager |
| Jo Farr | ... | production manager: Canada |
| Sylvain Marques | ... | assistant production manager |
| Adrien Scolan | ... | unit manager trainee |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
| Luc Bricault | ... | second assistant director: France |
| Bruno Bryniarski | ... | second assistant director: Canada |
| Matthew Gledhill | ... | first assistant director |
| Laurence Méoc | ... | second assistant director: France |
| Alex Oakley | ... | second assistant director: UK |
| Elizabeth Parker | ... | second assistant director: Canada (as Duff Parker) |
| Jennifer Stock | ... | second assistant director: Canada |
Art Department
| Vincent Amiel | ... | construction coordinator |
| Sébastien Assouline | ... | props buyer |
| Christophe Graziani | ... | assistant property master |
| David Greig | ... | set dresser |
| Lionel Guy | ... | key painter |
| Yvon Moreno | ... | floor props |
| Mylene Riccardi | ... | trainee decorator |
| Ken Sinclair | ... | first assistant decorator / lead man |
Sound Department
| Annabel Acquaviva | ... | boom operator |
| Roman Alexander Buchok | ... | re-recording mixer (as Al Buchok) |
| Guadalupe Cassius | ... | foley editor |
| Frank Ceven | ... | assistant foley artist |
| Pascal Chauvin | ... | foley artist |
| Roman Dymny | ... | sound designer / sound mixer |
| Bill Flynn | ... | sound |
| Richard Flynn | ... | sound mixer / sound recordist |
| Herwig Gayer | ... | sound recordist |
| Nicolas Moreau | ... | sound designer / sound mixer |
| Rob Rouse | ... | boom operator: Canada |
| Guillaume Sciama | ... | sound recordist |
| Daniel Sobrino | ... | sound designer |
| Vincent Vatoux | ... | assistant sound editor |
Stunts
| Catherine Lebegue | ... | stunts: France |
| Thierry Saelens | ... | stunts: France |
| John Stoneham Jr. | ... | stunt coordinator: Canada |
Camera and Electrical Department
| Julien Bureau | ... | first assistant camera |
| Scott Cowan | ... | assistant camera |
| Franck Fiquet | ... | electrician |
| Eric Gies | ... | gaffer |
| Paf le Chien | ... | still photographer |
| Jérôme Lift | ... | second assistant camera: France |
| Ludovic Petit | ... | electrician |
| Julien Saffroy | ... | grip |
| Jean-Pierre Voisin | ... | electrician |
Casting Department
| Aurélie Cerveau | ... | extras casting assistant |
| Lionel Guerrini | ... | casting assistant / extras casting assistant |
| François Guignard | ... | casting assistant |
| Jonathan Payne | ... | casting assistant |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
| Karine Charpentier | ... | assistant costume designer |
Location Management
| Chris Morgan | ... | location manager |
| Sherry Wolfson | ... | location manager |
Script and Continuity Department
| Agnès Feuvre | ... | script supervisor |
| Don McKellar | ... | script translator |
Additional Crew
| Cynthia Amsden | ... | unit publicist |
| Amira Bailey | ... | production assistant (as Mira Bailey) |
| Sandie Cabrol | ... | production coordinator |
| Sara Curran | ... | legal counsel |
| Clémentine Harland | ... | production coordinator |
| Daniel Horvat | ... | production accountant: Canada |
| Cory Johnson | ... | production assistant |
| Philippe Levy | ... | production accountant (as Philippe Lévy) |
| Yelena Makarczyk | ... | localization |
| François Mathon | ... | assistant: Maggie cheung |
| Neil Peplow | ... | production executive |
| Matthew Riutta | ... | caterer |
| Adrien Scolan | ... | runner |
| Matt Tromans | ... | assistant: Nick Nolte |
Thanks
| Matt Tromans | ... | special thanks |
Production Companies
- Rectangle Productions (co-production) (presents)
- Haystack Productions (co-production) (presents)
- Rhombus Media (co-production) (presents)
- Arte France Cinéma (co-production)
- Canal+ (participation)
- Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC) (participation)
- Téléfilm Canada (participation)
- The Film Consortium (in association with)
- UK Film Council (in association with)
- Matrix Film Finance (in association with)
- The Works (in association with)
- Forensic Films (in association with)
- Elizabeth Films (in association with)
- Journeyman Films Ltd.
Distributors
- ARP Sélection (France) (theatrical)
- Matrix Film Finance (2004) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
- TVA Films (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
- The Works (2004) (World-wide) (theatrical)
- Andes Films (2005) (Chile) (theatrical)
- Golden Village (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
- Imovision (2005) (Brazil) (theatrical)
- Inspire Pictures (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
- Istituto Luce (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
- PCV (2005) (Greece) (theatrical)
- Palm Pictures (2006) (United States) (theatrical)
- Sponge (2004) (South Korea) (theatrical)
- Spring Cinema (2004) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
- Stadtkino Filmverleih (2004) (Austria) (theatrical)
- Telexcel (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
- Transformer (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
- Vertigo Releasing (2005) (United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)
- ARTE (2007) (Germany) (tv)
- ARTE (2007) (France) (tv)
- Channel 4 Television (2006) (United Kingdom) (tv)
- Intersonic (2005) (Czechia) (DVD)
- The Works (2004) (United Kingdom)
Special Effects
- Mikros Image (special effects)
Other Companies
- Alunissons (sound equipment)
- Arion Facilities (video laboratory)
- Artistic Images (video conforming)
- Cinésyl (grip equipment)
- D.C.A. (sound equipment)
- DeLuxe Laboratories (laboratory)
- Digison (looping)
- Kodak (motion picture film supplied by)
- Les Auditoriums de Joinville (dubbing facility)
- Mad Dog 2020 (extras casting)
- Mikros Image (credits)
- PS Production Services (grip equipment)
- PS Production Services (lighting equipment)
- Panavision Alga (camera equipment)
- Panavision (camera equipment)
- Polyson (sound editing facility)
- Titra Film Paris (French subtitles)
- Toronto Film Studios (thanks)
- Toybox (video laboratory)
- Transpalux (lighting equipment)
- Unimage (picture editing facility)
Storyline
| Plot Summary |
London-based Emily Wang gained minor notoriety from her VJ-ing on cable television. She is now more renowned for being the longtime girlfriend and pseudo manager of rock musician Lee Hauser, who seems to be on the brink of stardom. Those that know the couple believe she is a bad influence on him, and is the reason why he is a junkie. After Lee dies from an accidental heroin overdose and Emily is imprisoned for six months on possession charges, she learns that the courts have awarded custody of their young adolescent son, Jay, to Lee's aging parents, Albrecht and Rosemary Hauser, who live in Vancouver. A concerned Albrecht asks that she not attempt to see Jay for at least two years while she cleans up her act so as to give Jay a fighting chance at a decent life. Emily initially agrees, knowing that she is in no position to look after Jay. To regain her life, she decides to move back to her old stomping grounds of Paris. As Emily tries mostly unsuccessfully to become clean while eking out a living doing what she wants to earn money, which is primarily still in the realm of rock music, Rosemary poisons Jay's mind about his mother. Caught in the middle is Albrecht, who, out of personal circumstance, wants Jay to eventually have a relationship with his mother if only because he knows that he and Rosemary will not be able to look after Jay until adulthood and that Emily is the only other family he has. Written by Huggo |
| Plot Keywords | |
| Taglines | When you don't have a choice, you change. See more » |
| Genres | |
| Parents Guide | Add content advisory for parents » |
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Box Office
| Budget | EUR5,300,000 (estimated) |
Did You Know?
| Trivia | Lead actress Maggie Cheung and director Olivier Assayas had previously collaborated on Irma Vep (1996), where they started a relationship and married a couple of years later. By the time they worked together again here, they'd already been divorced for a couple of years. See more » |
| Movie Connections | Features Machine Robo: Winner Battle Hackers (1987). See more » |
| Soundtracks | Down in the Light See more » |