Venice

35 Shots of Rum

35 rhums (France-Germany)

By JAY WEISSBERG

Mati Diop and Alex Descas star in Claire Denis' '35 Shots of Rum.'

A Soudaine Compagnie (France)/Pandora Film (Germany)/ARTE France Cinema (France) production, in association with WDR/ARTE, Sofica Cofinova 4, Soficinema4, with the participation of Canal Plus, TPS Star. (International sales: Elle Driver, Paris.) Produced by Bruno Pesery. Co-producers, Christophe Friedel, Claudia Steffen. Directed by Claire Denis. Screenplay, Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau.
 
Lionel - Alex Descas
Josephine - Mati Diop
Noe - Gregoire Colin
Gabrielle - Nicole Dogue
 

The warmth radiating from “35 Shots of Rum,” smoother than the finest liquor, reminds viewers how rarely movies capture the easygoing love embodied in a functional family, with all its support and tenderness. Claire Denis’ latest may appear whisper-thin on the surface, yet it’s marvelously profound, illuminating the love between a father and daughter but also highlighting the difficulty of relinquishing what most people spend a lifetime putting into place. This moving work, inexplicably outside Venice’s competition lineup, will need critical support to facilitate arthouse pickup.

Denis paces her opening carefully, with trains moving through nondescript Parisian neighborhoods and a young woman, Josephine (Mati Diop), buying a rice cooker, which itself turns into a lovely symbol of unspoken devotion. She lives with her train-driver father Lionel (Alex Descas) in an apartment building also inhabited by Lionel’s ex-g.f., Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue), and family friend Noe (Gregoire Colin).

Lionel is a widower and a man of few words — his settled life with Josephine is one of routine based on trust and enjoyment of each other’s company. Though he’s occasionally uncomfortable with the close ties that remain with Gabrielle, she’s also part of the family, as is Noe, a peripatetic traveler and orphan whose attraction to Josephine is restrained yet palpable.

The first sign of unwanted change appears when Lionel’s colleague Rene (artist Julieth Mars Toussaint) retires, leaving the older man visibly lost after years in which his job regulated his life and defined his identity. Lionel asks Josephine to promise that when the time comes, she’ll place her own needs above his.

Pic’s centerpiece is a magical scene in which the main characters pile into a cafe late at night, basking in the profound pleasure of being together. Even with the disapproving glances — Lionel when he sees Jo and Noe kissing, Gabrielle when she sees Lionel dancing with the gorgeous café owner (Adele Ado) — it’s obvious, in the way Denis uses space, music and her performers, that the warmth they feel for each other is incorruptible. This is the moment when Lionel realizes his daughter is fast on the path to an independent life.

There’s a perhaps unnecessarily pedantic scene in Josephine’s classroom, when students debate Third World debt policies, but otherwise the film is delicately calibrated. Auds unwilling or unable to follow the narrative intricacies of Denis’ “The Intruder” will have no problems here, although the helmer doesn’t detail every action or background — her script and thesps master the special depths of subtlety that make so many explanations unnecessary.

Mixing some of her usual muses — noble, sensitive Descas and sexy, soulful Colin — with less well-known performers creates a sense of symmetry. Diop, a fledgling helmer and niece of Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety, brings a sympathetic, assertive personality to Josephine, while Dogue’s thousand-watt smile exudes kindness and care. Ingrid Caven has a small role, shot in Luebeck, as Jo’s aunt, a more disillusioned creature looking back at the past.

By now, Denis has perfected her crew family, crafting a flawless package. Masterful d.p. Agnes Godard’s confidence is both restrained and thrilling: Ancillary will be difficult here, since such subtle work won’t have the same impact on DVD.

Costume designer Judy Shrewsbury’s contributions are often overlooked, but there’s a white piqued dress at the end that’s too special to ignore, not just in its simple beauty but also in the way it perfectly matches Josephine’s character. Denis’ signature sensitivity to music is beautifully demonstrated, not only with Tindersticks’ original compositions but also with songs heard on the radio or in the cafe, where the Commodores’ “Nightshift” envelops characters and audience in its warm, soulful sounds.

Camera (color), Agnes Godard; editor, Guy Lecorne; music, Tindersticks; production designer, Arnaud de Moleron; costume designer, Judy Shrewsbury; sound (Dolby Digital), Martin Boissau, Christophe Winding, Dominique Hennequin; casting, Nicolas Ronchi. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (noncompeting), Aug. 29, 2008. (Also in Toronto Film Festival — Special Presentations.) Running time: 99 MIN.
 

With: Ingrid Caven, Julieth Mars Toussaint, Jean-Christophe Folly, Adele Ado, Djedje Apali, Eriq Ebouaney.
(French, German dialogue)