Jirorian A textbook in contemporary writing, 'Smoke' tells a simple tale that, much like the photographs of his Brooklyn corner cigar store taken daily by lead character Auggie, as played in a highly nuanced performance by Harvey Keitel, can only be properly understood when one slows down. It is a story about storytelling which breaks down the binaries assumed to be inherent to our understandings of the world, in turn challenging our understandings of truth. Structured like a jazz improvisation having found its freedom by denying a previously established set of rules, the film is about chance, family, race, time, fiction, knowledge, and deception; all of which are pervaded heavily by the overarching forces that characterise life in the city. The ensemble cast lead separate lives that intertwine through their experiences of the city, and the connections they share speak for the struggles we all undergo in our respective searches for identity, meaning, and answers, especially in times when nothing presents itself as being distinctly one way or another. Through this fuzziness, the filters of smoke through which our perceptions are realised, we are exposed to a highly plausible possibility of what could or could not be the true nature of the lenses through which we see, and the language through which we interpret what we see.

sundaresh-venugopal Although other than to the scientific theory of Repletion and Depletion which Jesus clearly states in the Gospel, I do not subscribe to any of the pseudo scientific theories of conservation which is a myth but even examining that problem in the light and in the realm of those very theories and applying their very same principles, that reasoning though imaginative and inspired lacks rigor.In a collision between moving objects, the net linear momentum of the objects(masses) involved and its rotational counterpart, the net angular momentum(spin) of the objects involved is conserved within their own.But this is true only for this sort of interaction between moving objects.But it is unlikely that mass exhibits or even has the same property and is insular in itself, in any interaction, particularly those that involve transformation of the mass itself which is probably why there is a general law of conservation of energy but there is no specific law of conservation of mass.Suppose initially we started off with a compound of masses which in itself was made up of several say i independent masses say m1,m2,....,mi or the compound mass m = m1 + m2 +.... +mi, which was then burnt and resulted in several say j distinct masses m1',m2', ...,mj' or the compound mass m = m1'+m2'+....mj' and only one of those j different masses is smoke.Now clearly burning involves oxygen, which is an additional mass in itself. Also, burning produces heat and light and usually where there is heat and light, some amount of electricity is invariably involved and though we may assume that the initial compound of masses is totally non-conducting and the resulting compound of masses is also non-conducting, yet unfortunately air is conducting, and does transmit and carry electricity, static or otherwise. In this process of burning, clearly some amount of energy is transformed into heat and light which can only come from the energy of those masses themselves, not to ignore that different masses burn at different rates, consuming different amounts of oxygen and emitting different amounts of heat and light or at different temperatures and with different luminescence. Unless the conditions are always the same the burning may not always be the same and how the compound burns will depend on that and it will clearly depend on how the compound is formed as well.If the masses are actually joined and connected at an atomic level, then the rate or other characteristics of burning of the compound may not be readily related to the same characteristics of burning of its constituent individual elements or masses separately. Now clearly since the energy due to heat and light must come from the original compound of masses alone, the final mass of the compound can only be determined after one has accounted for the actual loss in energy due to heat and light.

Chris L Smoke deals with some intertwined destinies that, unfortunately, are never really convincing. One wonders, most of the time, where Wayne Wang and his writer wanted to go, what was the message they wanted to deliver trough these story lines, often composed of laborious and contrived dialogues, that hardly combine, that all lack substance and that even sometimes turn out to be frankly uninteresting as Auggie's ex-wife. The latter, embodied by the excellent Harvey Keitel, is, by the way, the most touching and interesting character, behind the best scene in the movie when he tells his unexpected Christmas to his friend Paul. A certain sincerity emerges from Smoke but it is not enough to compensate for the lacks of this pseudo comedy-drama.

mustafa_er It is important to me because this wonderful film is filled with thought provoking dialogs, and a very good story, amazing cast, great characters, with wonderful depth of feelings.This movie is a slow paced film , this is a quiet film that works, and that works very well. The movie is a little slow at times you may think, and indeed it is, but it really hooks you in and keeps you watching. A brilliant flick that relies more on simple, character-driven plot than action and crash-boom-bang. SMOKE is not a real adventure, not a real drama, not a real comedy, not a real cops movie, and not a real action movie as well. It's about life. But in a real way, and surprisingly not boring. I have seen it many times and keep watching it because I love its celebration of the simple pleasures of life: friendships, good conversation and normal human relations. Smoke is not a complex or experimental film, just a beautiful and simple portrayal of humanity. Nothing more nothing less. This is an actors movie, and they all do an incredible job.Best bit for me : I especially love the Christmas sequence at the end where the film reaches a sublime conclusion in a tender Christmas story narrated by Keitel and supported by Tom Waits' haunting song "Innocent When You Dream". I love this bit. Makes me cry like a girl. So moving, so touching, so heartwarming, so bitter-sweet.Watch this movie, watch it carefully. It has great characters, a great script, played by a flawless cast, and no doubt it is beautifully directed. Beautiful, beautiful movie. Unmissable ! "Smoke" is/was truly one of the best movies of 90's. I would recommend this film to people of all ages. I'm impressed. You will be impressed. And, oh yes, the Christmas STORY at the end WILL MAKE YOU CRY !!