#89. maggie cheung in clean

she won the best actress award at the cannes film festival (the first asian to do so), proving again that european critics are far less stuffy and uptight on the subject of drug use in cinema. though a difficult film to watch, cheung is sensational as the strung-out emily who, after witnessing the overdose of her boyfriend and abandoning her child, tries to sort her life out upon her release from a stint in prison. 

greatest moment: her confrontation with her former father-in-law (nick nolte) when she decides that she wants custody of her son.