Okay, fellow tapeheads, let's slide a different kind of cassette into the VCR today. Forget the explosions and car chases for a moment. Remember occasionally stumbling upon those double-VHS boxes at the rental store? The ones that felt… substantial? Sometimes they held an epic miniseries, other times, something utterly unexpected. That’s the feeling I get recalling Alain Resnais' audacious 1993 diptych, Smoking / No Smoking. This isn't your typical Friday night rental, perhaps, but stick with me – it’s a cinematic experience that truly lingers.
### One Choice, Infinite Ripples
What if? It’s a question that haunts us all, isn’t it? The tiny decision made, the road not taken. Smoking / No Smoking takes this fundamental human curiosity and spins it into a sprawling, captivating narrative experiment. Based on celebrated British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s mammoth eight-play cycle Intimate Exchanges, the premise is deceptively simple. In a quaint English village, Celia Teasdale (Sabine Azéma) pauses before picking up a pack of cigarettes. Does she light one ("Smoking") or resist ("No Smoking")? From this single, seemingly trivial moment, two entirely separate films unfold, exploring myriad branching possibilities in the lives of the village inhabitants over the next five years. Think Sliding Doors decades before Sliding Doors, but infinitely more complex and performed with breathtaking theatricality.
### The Astonishing Two-Hander
Here's the kicker, the detail that elevates Smoking / No Smoking from a clever concept to a mesmerizing feat: every single character across both films – all twelve distinct personalities, male and female, young and old – is played by just two actors. The luminous Sabine Azéma (Resnais' wife and frequent collaborator) and the brilliant Pierre Arditi deliver performances that are nothing short of astonishing. Watching them shift personas, altering voice, posture, and temperament, often within the same scene, is like witnessing a masterclass in transformation. There’s no heavy makeup or elaborate disguise, just pure, committed acting. It forces you to focus on the nuances of behaviour, the subtle shifts that define personality. You forget you're watching the same two people; you simply believe in Miles, Sylvie, Toby, Irene, and all the others whose fates intertwine and diverge based on that initial, smoky decision. It's a testament to their skill that the emotional core of each potential storyline resonates so deeply.
### A World Deliberately Unreal
Adding to the unique flavour is the film's visual style. Resnais, already a master of manipulating time and memory in films like Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961), collaborated with legendary production designer Jacques Saulnier to create a deliberately artificial world. The Yorkshire village setting is rendered through stylized, almost painterly sets. Gardens look like illustrations, skies are backdrops, interiors feel like stage constructions. This wasn't a budget limitation; it was a conscious choice. It reinforces the film's theatrical roots and underscores the feeling that we're observing constructed possibilities, different plays being enacted within the same framework. It might feel jarring initially, especially compared to the gritty realism often favoured in the 90s, but it perfectly complements the 'what if' nature of the narrative, reminding us we're exploring potentials, not a single reality. It lends the whole affair a storybook quality, albeit one filled with very adult complexities – loneliness, infidelity, ambition, regret.
### From Stage to Screen (and Back Again?)
Adapting Ayckbourn’s work was no small feat. The original stage version involved 8 full plays, offering 16 possible character paths and 32 scenes! Resnais, along with acclaimed French screenwriting duo Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri (who often starred in their own sharp comedies like The Taste of Others), cleverly distilled this complex structure into the two-film format. They retained the intricate plotting and Ayckbourn's signature blend of humour and melancholy, focusing on the intertwined lives within the village. The sheer ambition paid off critically – Smoking / No Smoking swept the César Awards (the French Oscars) in 1994, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Arditi), Best Actress (Azéma), and Best Writing. It was a major validation of a daring cinematic gamble. Finding both tapes back in the day often required a dedicated hunt – I remember my local store only ever having one or the other in stock at any given time, adding a meta-layer of chance to even watching the damn thing!
### Lasting Impressions
Is Smoking / No Smoking for everyone? Perhaps not. Its combined runtime approaches five hours, and its deliberate pacing and theatricality demand patience. It’s more akin to settling in with a rich novel than consuming a quick movie fix. Yet, the rewards are immense. It’s a profound meditation on chance, consequence, and the small hinges on which enormous doors swing open or slam shut. Azéma and Arditi's performances are unforgettable, a unique tour-de-force unlikely to be repeated. The stylized visuals create a dreamlike space perfect for contemplating alternate realities. It makes you ponder your own life's turning points, the seemingly insignificant choices that shaped who and where you are today. Doesn't reflecting on those 'what ifs' reveal something fundamental about how we navigate our lives?
---
Rating: 9/10
Justification: This near-masterpiece earns its high score through sheer audacity, flawless execution of a complex concept, and two of the most remarkable acting achievements you'll witness from the era. The deliberate artificiality perfectly serves the thematic exploration of possibility, and while its length and style might test some viewers, the intellectual and emotional rewards are substantial. It's a unique, challenging, and ultimately deeply moving piece of cinema that uses its structure not as a gimmick, but as a profound storytelling tool.
Final Thought: More than just a film (or two films), Smoking / No Smoking feels like a beautifully crafted puzzle box of human potential, leaving you wondering about the unseen paths branching off from your own everyday choices long after the credits roll. A truly singular find from the shelves of VHS Heaven.