35 Rums (2008)

Directed by: Claire Denis | 100 minutes | drama | Actors: Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, Grégoire Colin, Jean-Christophe Folly, Djédjé Apali, Eriq Ebouaney, Ingrid Caven, Stéphane Pocrain, Julieth Mars Toussaint, Adèle Ado, Mary Pie, Cheikh Toure, David Saada, Mario Canonge

Anyone who has ever seen a Claire Denis film knows that we are dealing with a quirky filmmaker. The films of the Frenchwoman are atmospheric, beautifully shot, but not always easy to understand. The films sometimes have a mystical quality, but with such a statement you don’t make it any easier for the average film lover. Fortunately, ’35 Rhums’ is a fairly accessible film. And a gem too.

In ’35 Rhums’ we meet a father, his daughter, the neighbor, the neighbor and some other characters. Daughter is of the age at which children leave the parental home, and father has a hard time with that in advance. Father also has the misfortune that as a train driver he has enough time to worry about that imminent departure. It is still unclear where mother has gone.

’35 Rhums’ is one of those films in which nothing happens at first sight, but where everything is going on under the skin. The film does not explain anything, there is hardly a plot, so as a viewer you can put the puzzle pieces together yourself. Thus arises a treatise on attachment, parting, love, death, love, love and more love. And especially the unbreakable love between father and daughter, a love that comes to us in tender, pure scenes.

In contrast to most French psychodramas, ’35 Rhums’ is hardly spoken and the things that are said are of a prosaic everydayness. It is the images that tell the story here, images of loneliness and anonymity in the big city, of natural companionship, of a soft touch, an intimate dance. And beneath those atmospheric images flows and caresses the equally atmospheric score of good old Tindersticks.

Perhaps the greatest compliment you can give ’35 Rhums’ is that its beauty and appeal are hard to put into words. Film as film is intended, from a filmmaker of the rarest kind.