“You don’t have to be a parent to connect with Claire Denis’s exquisite, extraordinary film… To fall in love with it viewers only have to be receptive to a movie that examines the ties that bind with grace, wit and depth. A pitch-perfect film.”
– David Fear, Time Out New York

“A quiet and lovely new film. (Embeds) extraordinary thematic richness with a simple, almost anecdotal narrative framework, and achieves a rare eloquence about the state of the world by means of tact and reticence… captured by Agnès Godard’s exquisite and expressive cinematography.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“(Has) a spellbinding visual beauty that reminds you of the transporting power of pure cinema… poetically photographed.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“Denis makes movies to show how remarkable ordinary human beings are. (Her) achingly tender, bittersweet 35 SHOTS OF RUM…
feels as natural as breathing. And yet it might also be described as a poem written in the language of the hands, eyes, and yes, sometimes the backs of four performers…
Descas (is) the most magnetic and grounded actor in world cinema.”
– Amy Taubin, Artforum

“Sublime... Denis’s warmest, most radiant work.”
– Melissa Anderson, Village Voice

“Irresistible.” – Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

“A masterpiece!” – Armond White, New York Press

“(A) quiet, profound, beautifully observed story.” – Stuart Klawans, The Nation

“A MUST-SEE” – Film Comment

“Claire Denis is one of the most magical filmmakers in the world.”
– Noel Murray & Scott Tobias, The Onion

“Moving with a sense of continuous flow rather than bumping through a series of climaxes,
35 SHOTS becomes a sort of ballet of emotions, executed with weightless grace and poise.”
– Dave Kehr, Film Comment

“A lovely communal portrait.” – Richard Corliss, TIME Online

“The warmth radiating from 35 SHOTS OF RUM, smoother than the finest liquor, reminds viewers
how rarely movies capture the easygoing love embodied in a functional family, with all its support and tenderness.”
— Jay Weissberg, Variety

Claire Denis, long known for her subtle, fluid and intriguing movies (BEAU TRAVAIL is best known to U.S. audiences), sets her story in a Paris suburb: a widowed metro conductor, approaching retirement, lives with his beautiful grown daughter — the object of a neighbor’s romantic interest. The man’s former girlfriend also lives in their building and plays a role in their closely-knit lives. 35 SHOTS OF RUM considers the mysterious complexities that surround evolving relationships, whether romantic or parental. It is the rare movie whose plot is driven both by what people say and what they hold back, the meaningful pauses between words, a significant glance, a sexy outfit, a thoughtful gift. A film that holds a mirror up to life as it is actually led.

FRANCE / GERMANY • 2008 • 100 MINS. • IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • CINEMA GUILD

Available at Concession:

NENETTE + BONI
A film by Claire Deni