FilmCriticLalitRao Loneliness is a strange feeling as one can be lonely even while being surrounded by huge armies of people. 35 shots of Rum appears to celebrate loneliness as it allows its protagonists to explore their inner world where loneliness is an expression of their choice which they use in order to reveal their strengths and weaknesses. This film is a sensible study which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of human character. This study is carried out through the depiction of human life's most ordinary moments namely a woman buying a rice cooker, a car getting stuck during a rainy season etc. 35 shots of rum is balanced in his approach as loneliness has also been depicted as a life threatening sentiment which claims numerous victims. One such victim dies after having been viciously attacked by fate. French director Claire Denis chose to depict a quiet yet fragile daughter/father relationship which is not able to stand the test of time. This is shown in the form of cracks which begin to slowly destroy an innocent daughter/father relationship when both of them choose to part in order to be with their loved ones.

jotix100 Lionel, a Parisian suburban train conductor, lives in a comfortable place with Josephine, his daughter, a university student of social studies. Their lives are examined in this introspective character study by Claire Denis, a director closely associated with the African continent. In this story, she watches a group of railway people, all of them African immigrants from the former French colonies.The focus of the film is the loving relationship between father and daughter and friends. Lionel was married to a German woman, now dead. He has reared Josephine, doing a splendid job. Even though they might not have a lot to say to one another, their love is evident. Noe, a neighbor, clearly likes Josephine. Lionel, who has been a widower for a long time, is interested in Gabrielle, a taxi driver. Nothing much happens in the story, and yet, it has its spell on viewers. One follows these immigrants who have made a life in a foreign land, living productive, if somewhat quiet lives. The atmosphere is positive as Ms. Denis decided to present them in a light which makes the audience care for them. The screenplay, written by Jan-Pol Fargeau and the director, shows their appreciation, and respect for the people being examined in the film.The cast is excellent led by Alex Descas, who plays Lionel with a quiet dignity. Lovely Mati Diop makes justice of her Josephine. Gregoire Colin plays the enigmatic Noe, and Nicole Dogue does an interesting take on Gabrielle. The production was photographed by the distinguished cinematographer Agnes Godard who bathes the film in dark tones since much of the action takes place at night. Tindersticks provide the melodious musical score.

Miakmynov If like me, you're the kind of person who's desk is always tidy with everything in the right place, who appreciates clarity and structure, and is in generally on the wrong-end of the societal norm of 'just go with the flow', then this film could prove to be quite a challenge.The first few minutes encapsulate the movie in miniature. We spend the time zipping around a French metro system going nowhere in particular, via a camera attached to the front of various trains, as the timespan unfolds from daylight to darkness. This is intercut with shots of a good-looking chain-smoking bloke in his fifties, watching the subway trains from his motorbike by the side of the tracks. What is he waiting for? What does he look so worried about? Why does he eventually leave? For every answer meted out, another dozen questions take its' place.The plot, such as it is, concerns the changing relationship between a beautiful father/daughter combo (which, at times, seemed to me almost incestuous in tone), and their extended family of neighbours. Most 'stuff' is left unsaid for the viewer to interpret. Instead we are treated to languid, lingering shots of things like, er, doorways and skin. This is most definitely art-house territory, with bits of French-ness thrown in.I stayed for the Q&A after the Edinburgh Film Festival showing, in the hope that the director (Claire Denis) might shed some light on her work, and indeed she did – long, rambling answers that veered all over the place in an entirely inoffensive but generally incoherent way – just like her film really. Nice enough to look at, but not really my cup of thé au lait, even if there had been some in sulky Noe's fridge. 4/10

M A I like it when the movie title itself is capable of concisely threading together the themes of the movie and yet retains a unique symbolic connotation. "35 shots of rum" is a good example. The audience were left with a question mark as to what the "35 shots of rum theory" meant to the father early on in the movie, and when leaving the cinema were probably rewarded with a sonorous answer which neatly highlights and summarises the point of the movie.In a working class Parisian family which is disintegrated by the loss of an important member, what bonds the remaining members together and keep them going? What prevents them from lying flat on the rail and let trains run all over them and wrap them up as some may choose to? "35 shots of rum" provides us with a sincere, heartfelt and highly humanised conjecture through unraveling an intimate web of relationships within the family and the neighbourhood, and reveals to the audience what meanings of life are to the characters. The story-telling is commendable and loyal to its central film throughout, making the film a structurally condensed and coherent piece of study of humanity.