Smoke

The owner of a Brooklyn cigar shop has photographed the same corner outside his door at the same hour every morning for fourteen years. One of his customers, a writer, has not been able to work since his wife died. The film advances through the stories these people tell each other and never settles which are true. The scene of turning the pages of the photograph album says in one gesture how daily repetition becomes a record of a life. Wayne Wang directed from a script by Paul Auster; the two made a second film with the same team straight afterwards. Harvey Keitel and William Hurt lead. Who it's for: those who like calm New York films built on storytelling. Who it's not for: viewers wanting plot; this proceeds slowly and in sections.