35 Shots of Rum

Watching a film like 35 Shots of Rum requires some adjustment, especially for an American, who isn't completely used to films that are quietly powerful character studies like this one. There isn't a lot of action, instead it simply observes a handful of characters as they go through their days, interacting with one another and having small epiphanies. Once you realize that there won't be a catharsis, you can settle in and enjoy its simple pleasures.

Directed by Claire Denis, 35 Shots of Rum centers around Alex Descas as a widowed commuter train driver in Paris. He lives with his college student daughter, Mati Diop. A neighbor, Gregoire Colin, appears to be in love with Diop, but is restless, telling her that he stays in his parents' apartment because of his cat. When it dies, he decides to take a job in Africa. Nicole Dogue, a taxi driver, also lives in the building. She appears to have once had a relationship with Descas, and has known Diop since she was a baby.

One of the main themes of the film is movement, or rather lack of it. Though all our indirectly involved with transportation, they don't go anywhere, at least until Colin breaks up the "family" unit by announcing his emigration. Descas wonders why people would go anywhere when everything they need is at hand. When the foursome attempt to go to a concert, they encounter car trouble, and are taken in on a rainy night by strangers in a bar, suggesting home is where you are. The only trip taken by Descas and Diop is to Germany, where her mother was from and is buried.

Another theme of the film is being on the outside looking in. Many of the characters are black, and though nothing is made of this (there are few white faces in the film) one can't help but sense that they are outsiders in a European city (the only other Denis film I've seen, Chocolat, is about white Europeans living in black Africa). Dogue, who still obviously loves Descas, desperately wants to be considered part of his family, but is kept at arms length, while Colin is in love with Diop but doesn't seem to know how to tell her.

The film is stingy with information, and ladles it out judiciously. We never really know the extent of characters' relationships. There was something that happened at the end that I didn't even realize happened until I read the summary on Wikipedia. Even the title is obscure. Denis, in a supplementary interview, said there was a scene that fully explained its meaning, but she cut it because it was boring.