35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum). 2008. France. Directed by Claire Denis . Screenplay by Claire Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau. With Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, Grégoire Colin. 35mm. In French and German with subtitles. 100 min.
Timed to coincide with the release of High Life, starring Robert Pattinson, BAM’s 2019 series Strange Desires: The Films of Claire Denis was the largest US retrospective to date of her work. In their series description, BAM wrote, “One of a handful of filmmakers who can credibly lay claim to the title of World’s Greatest Living Director, Claire Denis creates films that speak as much through movement, rhythm, and texture as they do through words.” In 35 Shots of Rum, a loving reinvention of Yasujirō Ozu’s Late Spring (1946), Denis transplants the poignant story of an aging widower and his growing daughter to modern-day Paris, paying homage to the great Japanese director while creating a deeply moving character study and mood piece that fits in perfectly with Denis’s body of work.