FRENCH director Claire Denis’ warm fam ily drama “35 Shots of Rum” opens with a young woman named Josephine waiting for the older Lionel, a subway driver, to come home for dinner.
At first it is difficult to tell what their relationship is — are they lovers? — but as the scene unfolds we learn that they are father and daughter.
Josephine (Mati Diop) is a mixed-race college student and Lionel (Alex Descas) is a black widower, and they live together in a bland high-rise in suburban Paris.
Their loving relationship forms the basis for Denis’ working-class portrait, which she co-wrote.
Two other residents of the housing block figure into the story: Noe (Grégoire Colin), a young white man who lives in his dead parents’ flat and has a hankering for Josephine; and Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue), a black, middle-aged taxi driver who is in love with Lionel and displays motherly instincts toward Josephine.
Denis — who has called the film a tribute to the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu — keeps dialogue to a minimum as she delicately examines how immigration is changing the face of France. Agnes Godard’s cinematography is a pleasant accompaniment.
In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 100 minutes. Not rated (sexuality). At Film Forum, Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue.
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