The title of Claire Denis' beautifully observed 35 Shots of Rum is never fully explained, but that's part of the quiet mystery, and majesty, of this elliptical portrait of a group of French Africans living on the outskirts of Paris. There's a story to be told about drinking down the 35 consecutive glasses, but Lionel (Alex Descas), the taciturn train conductor who is one of Denis' central characters, never quite gets around to it.
Wrapped in gentle melancholy, and featuring long, wordless passages as people ride trains, cook meals, and motorbike through the Paris night, 35 Shots of Rum is visual poetry, but poetry that examines the human condition with insight and illumination.
