It is not an objective task or even fair to review your favorite movie. “Smoke” (1995) by Wayne Wang and written by Paul Auster is a gem. It is a theatrical movie and could have been performed on stage across the land except for the fact that throughout the movie people smoke. They smoke cigarettes. They smoke cigars. They smoke more cigarettes. They smoke all the time. This is how people used to live. How do I know? I was there. There is no way local health ordinances would have allowed the play Smoke in a high school. But it matters not. Art for art sake. “Smoke is a great movie.
What is refreshing about the movie “Smoke” is that it takes place during that magical time period before the internet. The Twin Towers are seen in the skyline. People smoke in bars and restaurants. People watch baseball games on old analog televisions with antennas and sometimes even in black and white. People hang out. People interact with their neighbors. The late 1980s was the end of the old times. Before the internet. Before cellphones when life was great. “Smoke” is a very well told story, an excellent screenplay, great and interesting acting even by the incidental parts. And by the time you get to the end, the movie it is but a wise and paradoxical Christmas story about kindness, truth and the power of stories and illusion.
The movie follows the lives of over a half dozen people and the main gathering place throughout the movie is a smoke shop in Brooklyn. You are immersed into the working lives of ordinary people save for the main character, the somewhat famous author Paul Benjamin (William Hurt). He has a special relationship with the smoke shop owner Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel).
The quote below really summarizes the humanity of the film.
Auggie Wren: You will never get it if you don’t slow down my friend.
Paul Benjamin: What do you mean?
Auggie Wren: You are going so fast you are hardly looking at the pictures.
Paul Benjamin: They are all the same.
Auggie Wren: They’re all the same, but each one is different than every other one. You got your bright mornings, your dark mornings. You got your summer light, your autumn light. You got your weekdays, your weekends. You got your people in overcoats and goulashes and you got your people in t-shirts and shorts. Sometimes the same people. Sometimes different ones. Sometimes the different ones become the same. The same ones disappear. The earth revolves around the sun and everyday the light from the sun hits the earth at a different angle.
Paul Benjamin: Slow down, huh?
Auggie Wren: That’s what I recommend. You know how it is. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Time creeps in its petty pace.From the movie “Smoke” (1995) by Wayne Wang
And as the the movie progresses the plot thickens. There are crimes, murders pregnancies, business deals that go south and serendipitous reparations There is an ingenious view into the psychology of adolescence and the defense mechanism of impersonation as Rashid reinvents himself many times thoughout the film. It dives into the complexities of parenthood, tragedy and broken families. By the end, through all the unforgiving realism, we end up with a Christmas story and an simple act of kindness as Tom Waits, in his rusty voice, sings the closing theme You’re Innocent When You Dream.
This is a great movie not on anyone’s holiday movie list. 5 Stars.
NOTE: Review updated 12/9/2024