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Smoke

7.6

19,021

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Sequel:

Blue in the Face

Original title

Smoke

Year

1995

Running time

112 min.

Country

United States

Director

Wayne Wang

Screenwriter

Paul Auster

Cast

Music

Rachel Portman

Cinematography

Adam Holender

Producer

Miramax

Genre

Drama | Independent Film (US). 1980s. Ensemble Film. Photography. Cult movie

Synopsis

In 1990, novelist Paul Auster was asked to contribute a Christmas story to the New York Times. The resulting piece, "Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story," forms the basis for his screenplay for SMOKE. Directed by Wayne Wang and set in a Brooklyn cigar store, Auster expanded the story to include four other characters whose lives intertwine with Auggie Wren’s. As Auggie, the manager of the store that serves as a neighborhood meeting place, Harvey Keitel gives a restrained, mellow performance. The other characters, Paul (William Hurt), a blocked writer; Rashid (Harold Perrineau Jr.), a troubled youth; Ruby (Stockard Channing), Auggie’s former lover; and Cyrus (Forest Whitaker), Rashid’s long-lost father, form a web of relationships over a few summer days. Auster, who had previously adapted his novel THE MUSIC OF CHANCE into a taut script, here exhibits a loose, almost improvisational style as he lets his characters simply talk about their lives. Wang eschews the big, somewhat melodramatic style he used in THE JOY LUCK CLUB for relaxed, natural direction that allows the actors, who are all terrific, to project an everyday realism seldom seen in American movies. The actual Christmas story appears at the end in a beautiful black-and-white montage, accompanied by a bittersweet Tom Waits song.

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Rankings Position

#56 Best Movies of the '90s

Awards: 1995: Berlin Film Festival: Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize

1995: David di Donatello Awards: Best Foreign Actor (Harvey Keitel). 2 Nominations

1995: Chlotrudis Awards: Nominated Best Actor (Harvey Keitel)

1995: Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Screenplay. 2 Nominations

1995: Cesar Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Language Picture

1995: German Film Awards: Best Foreign Film

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Smoke

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