Smoke [M]

A dingy New York tobacco store serves as a popular neighbourhood-meeting place for all manner of colourful and eccentric characters. Amongst these is shop owner Auggie with a penchant for photography, writer Paul Benjamin suffering from writer’s block, and Ruby, the one-eyed former lover of Auggie. Each has a story to tell: Ruby’s trying to rekindle bonds with her (and possibly Auggie’s) daughter, Paul gets saved by a young kid named Rashid and their paths become irrevocably twined as Rashid turns out to be on the run from infamous neighbourhood criminals and is looking for his long-lost father, and Auggie has a guilty secret regarding the acquisition of his first camera. 

An intimate character study that bears a similar narrative quality to Pulp Fiction, Smoke is a real hidden gem of a movie that I’m sure many people have never even heard of, it’s gone so long under the radar. Oftentimes these small, quiet, and simple movies really turn out to be the ones you should see because they offer something a lot more tangible and relatable to than masses of impressive special effects or makeup and costume design. With its intertwining stories, chapter structure, and engaging performances, Smoke is a film that seemingly doesn’t offer a lot, but you keep your eyes glued to the screen and before you know it, the film’s over and you’re feeling very warm all through. 

A dingy New York tobacco store serves as a popular neighbourhood-meeting place for all manner of colourful and eccentric characters. Amongst these is shop owner Auggie with a penchant for photography, writer Paul Benjamin suffering from writer’s block, and Ruby, the one-eyed former lover of Auggie. Each has a story to tell: Ruby’s trying to rekindle bonds with her (and possibly Auggie’s) daughter, Paul gets saved by a young kid named Rashid and their paths become irrevocably twined as Rashid turns out to be on the run from infamous neighbourhood criminals and is looking for his long-lost father, and Auggie has a guilty secret regarding the acquisition of his first camera. 

As I mentioned, it’s the way the film is structured that put me in mind of Pulp Fiction. Smoke actually bloomed from a short Christmas story that writer/director Paul Auster was asked to do for the New York Times (knowing this adds another level of intrigue to the film because it closes with the writer being asked the same thing). Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story, which the writer character begins writing at the film’s end, formed the base for the entre screenplay. So there you go, your piece of trivia for the day. Divided into character chapters that create great flow as they’re not primarily about the characters they advertise, the film tells all these little stories that are just enough out of the ordinary as to be intriguing but still retain this level of realism, and the cinematic techniques that directors Wayne Wang and Paul Auster employ heighten this sense of realism. 

There are two scenes that are particularly captivating: the first is the scene where Auggie is telling the writer his Christmas story, the story of how he got his first camera. A downplayed, but nonetheless enthralling performance from Harvey Keitel, the camera slowly closes in on his face and then moves down to his lips in this very intimate close-up that is really mesmerising. There’s no music, just Harvey’s telling the story. Really moving. The second is the visualisation of that story as the credits roll at the film’s end. Filmed in black and white against the soundtrack of a bittersweet Tom Waits song, the final scene really warms your heart and is a simple, yet really powerful and emotive example of less is more. 

Starring William Hurt, Stockard Channing, Giancarlo Esposito, Jose Zuniga, Stephen Gevedon, Jared Harris, Daniel Auster, Harold Perrineau Jr., Deidre O’Connell, Victor Argo, Michelle Hurst, Vincento Amelia, Erica Gimpel, and Forest Whitaker, Smoke is a captivating little film that’s filled with romance, drama, loss, friendship, and comedy. It’s really small and simple, but it’s really lovely and actually quite emotive; a real find!