ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

IN THE middle of the silly Summer blockbuster season it is a particular joy to comes across a film like 35 Shots Of Rum. The latest tale from French writer/director Claire Denis is told with such grace and tenderness that it is a total pleasure.

Inspired by the Ozu classic Late Spring and Denis’s own relationship with her father, it offers a beautifully observed portrait of the bond between a father and daughter living in the high rise suburbs of Paris.

Claire Denis has a natural command of all the elements that make a great film. In 35 Shots, she combines beautiful images of an unfamiliar Paris, lilting music from tindersticks and understated performances to create a haunting portrait of the simple joys and sorrows to be found in everyday human existence.

Alex Descas stars as Lionel, a widowed train driver who shares an apartment and a happy life with his daughter Josephine (Mati Diop), who is a student. He realises that this existence cannot last forever and the film has the feel of a melancholic salute to a fleeting time of peace and contentment.

Smooth and soulful, it also charts their relationships with neighbours like taxi driver Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue), who has a crush on Lionel, and Noe (Gregoire Colin), who has known Josephine since childhood but cannot make that shift from old friend to potential lover.

Unfolding at a gentle pace, 35 Shots Of Rum is not a film for those enthralled by special-effects and non-stop action. It is slow, thoughtful and marbled in an acute understanding of the human condition. Approached in the right mood, this French-language drama is warm, accessible and completely charming

Selected nationwide release

Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Alex Descas, Mati Diop Nicole Dogue, Gregoire Colin, Julieth Mars, Adele Ado
Screenwriters: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 101 mins
Country: France/Germany
Year: 2008

© Allan Hunter, 2008