Smoke (1995) by Leila Murseljevic

A World of Film

I was asked the other day to, in just 5 seconds, name the first movie that pops on my mind, which fulfils the criteria of both simplicity and effectiveness at the same time. And let me tell you, for someone who takes the art of moving pictures very seriously, this was one of the toughest jobs I had to do (at least in this area). And disco! While my head spins around like a wheel in those 5 seconds, not 1 but 3 titles came out, with “Smoke” being one of them.

A Silver Bear winner at the 45^th Berlin International Film Festival, Wayne Wang’s and Paul Auster’s independent project directed back in 1995, “Smoke” is a mish-mash of several stories that surround different characters, with a central stage in a tobacco/magazine store in Brooklyn NY. Slow-paced Auggie (played brilliantly by Harvey Keitel), the store’s owner, is the central…

View original post 409 more words