Film Festival 09 - 35 Shots of Rum
35 Shots of Rum
35 rhums, France/Germany 2008, 100m
Director: Claire Denis
Festivals: Venice, Toronto, Pusan 2008; Rotterdam, San Francisco
2009
Claire Denis's subtle, intimate portrait of father and adult
daughter possesses the simple gravity of a classic. The striking
Alex Descas is Lionel, a train driver apprehensive about imminent
retirement. He lives with Jo, the 20-something daughter he has
brought up. The bonds of love and habit that make it so natural for
these two to stay together are palpable in their every scene. We
see too that each of them has an admirer in the apartment block
where they live. In Jo's case he's played by Denis regular
Grégoire Colin. The defining movement in the film is Jo's
inevitable drift away from home, observed by Denis with tender
admiration for the dignity of the aging man and the lovely
seriousness of the young woman. But every sensation, every glance
is gently weighted in this exquisitely observant film. The pivotal
scene in which father, daughter and potential partners take shelter
in a neighbourhood bar is breathtaking in its graceful, empathetic
registration of criss-crossing emotion.
"Magnificently directed, faultlessly performed, alert to the beauty
and mystery of commonplace things& Her finest piece of work
since 1999's superb Beau Travail.. it's imbued with Denis' own,
unmistakeable sensibility, the patient and watchful eye that
disinguished earlier Paris-set masterpieces like I Can't Sleep and
Friday Night& Her greatest achievement, though, is to make you
feel connected - to this world, to these people. (It also suffers
not at all by having, at its centre, the great Alex Descas, one of
the most beautiful men in the world, and a grave, compelling screen
presence.)" - Shane Danielsen, indieWIRE
In French and German, with English subtitles
