Father-daughter film’s message is subtle

The title sounds raucous, but “35 Shots of Rum,” a wonderful film by French director Claire Denis, is anything but.

This quiet tale observes the daily life of a 50-something father, Lionel, and his 20-something daughter, Josephine, who share a lower-middle-class apartment in the farther-out suburbs of Paris.

They are uncommonly close. We are left to imagine that one reason is the death of the family matriarch at some time in the past.

Lionel (Alex Descas) is a motorman on a commuter train. Jo (Mati Diop), a university student, works at a music store. Quietly they go about the motions of daily life, sharing a meal, doing laundry. They seem happy, or at least content.

Two longtime neighbors in Lionel and Jo’s apartment building figure significantly in the story.

Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue), a vibrant woman with an obvious crush on Lionel and a loving relationship with Jo since Jo was a baby, drives a cab.

Noe (Gregoire Colin), a young man scarred by the deaths of his parents, says he’s considering moving abroad. His announcement disturbs the quiet equilibrium of all four lives.

Slowly you see that for things to be in proper balance Jo needs to be with someone like Noe, and Lionel should find someone like Gab. The closeness of father and daughter has probably delayed that.

Denis’ movie is about the difficult transition from the family unit of father and daughter to a time when daughter must set out on her own.

The movie never talks about this. We see it in the unspoken details of all those stealthily observant scenes. And to give us time to observe, the movie moves at a pace some will probably find too slow.

We get long stretches (perhaps too long) of the view from the front of Lionel’s train, following the tracks and sweeping through tunnels or past dense, inexpensive high-rise housing.

Scenes in which Gabrielle handles a testy cab passenger, or Jo responds to a flirty customer at the music store, might seem like dead-end diversions. Likewise a subplot in which Lionel’s co-worker retires with obvious regret.

But they are also character-defining.

When the four set out to see a concert together, Gab’s taxi breaks down in the rain. They huddle in a small bistro, eating, drinking and dancing. Denis makes this scene the movie’s turning point, as always with subtle observation.

While race is never mentioned, Lionel is black. A visit to Jo’s aunt in Germany reveals her mother was white. Gabrielle has a dark, perhaps Caribbean complexion, while Noe is white. The movie feels postmodern because race feels like a nonissue.

For fans of small, human-scale stories, “35 Shots of Rum” should be deeply satisfying, thanks to wonderful performances from all four central characters and Denis’ way of leaving her audience to discover things for themselves.

The movie is in French, with English subtitles.

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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