35 Shots of Rum (2008)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

35 Shots of Rum (2008) – C. Denis

Somehow Claire Denis has managed to create a warm moody film, one that ruminates about the positive aspects of our closest relationships (in this case between single dad and daughter), even as it signals the changes that must occur without ever making them too sad.  In this way, Denis has taken her cues from Ozu, particularly Late Spring (1949) which also sees a father contemplating his daughter’s future life without him.  Alex Descas plays the dad as a man of few words but deep feeling.  His life is complicated by romantic pursuit from a neighbour, a chain-smoking taxi driver, who has long been treated as part of the family.  Another neighbour provides a romantic interest for Josephine, the daughter (played by Mati Diop).  The relationships between these four principals and a few others make up the heart of the film and Denis allows the richness and complexity of real life to infuse the film.  At the same time, her eye for composition (including Ozu-like still lifes), her ear for the way that the soundtrack can evoke moods (courtesy of the Tindersticks), and her thoughtful script that leaves ambiguities everywhere, such that we don’t really know anything about the backstory of the characters except what we can infer, elevate the film beyond an ordinary drama.  In the end, Alex drinks the 35 shots of rum to mark a special occasion, though we are left to guess at what has happened (but the second rice cooker gives it away). Rich and satisfying without ever threatening to be a major statement.