Best Smoking Scenes in Hollywood
Smoking has often been used to add flavor to motion
pictures in the history of cinema. Contrasting effects and lasting impacts are
created by using cigars and cigarettes as potent props. The effect of these
scenes include imparting rough edges to imperfect characters, hiding
vulnerabilities of a ‘bad ass’ mafia (Al Pacino in Scarface) or even adding an air of intimidation to
seduction (Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate), to list a few.
Disclaimer: Cigarette smoking is injurious to health.
This attempt at ranking should not be seen as an endorsement for smoking or in
any way glamorizing smoking. J
Directors and
actors of highest caliber use smoking as a tool to leave indelible impressions
on our minds. Smoking scenes and corresponding conversation style in cinemas
have evolved with changing lifestyles. Earlier, laid-back characters used to
puff out dense smoke from fat cigars in lavishly-built drawing rooms and bars
with enchanting blues playing in the background. In black-and-white movies,
such as ‘Casablanca,’ the white smoke appeared more like another character than
a mere prop or background.
The times are
changing and so are the plots. The idea of smoking, rather doping, for
recreational purposes has also found its way in low-budget, rich-content, and
high-drama movies with iconic scenes and awesome background scores. Quite
unheralded for obvious reasons, these scenes are etched in our—the
cine-goers—memories.
Now that I
have set the context, I feel the urge to list the top-5 smoking scenes from
movies I have seen.
1. Sharon
Stone in ‘Basic Instinct’: There is some serious oomph oozing out of
the iconic interrogation scene in this movie. Sharon Stone plays the character
of Catherine Tramell, a wealthy
writer. She hijacks the
interrogation process through her smoking and seduction. What is commendable is
the way Sharon is dominating a scene while sharing it with someone of Michael
Douglas’s class. While smoking nonchalantly sitting in a chair with the famous
cross-legged pose of hers, the way she says, “What you gonna do, charge me with
smoking? “, she pretty much nails it. Michael Douglas has never looked so
completely dominated. There is a certain style to the scene which makes it
top-of-the-mind recall for all cine-goers, men and women alike. This scene
presents one of the strongest female characters Hollywood has managed to
produce, while being mostly male-centric, for dark, crime-centric movies.
2. Definitely,
Maybe: This is the most casual smoking scene I have seen in Hollywood.
The scene is mature enough to start with Will Hayes, played by Ryan Reynolds,
reading out the warning ‘Cigarettes cause slow and painful death’ on the
packet. The scene starts as a $20 bet between Will and April (played by Isla
Fisher) to decide which of the two brands of cigarettes burns faster. Set in
local marketplace evening lighting as background with the drizzle playing its
part, the scene takes the tempo of the movie to a higher level. As soon as the
cigarettes are lit up, there is a palpable change in the pace of the movie and
these cigarettes literally light up the screen. The way the conversation
unfurls and ignites a sparkling chemistry between the protagonists, who are not
interested in each other at that point in the movie, is fascinating. They end
up discussing ingredient chemicals in cigarettes to Kurt Cobain and everything
in between.
3. Match
Point: This high-quality drama directed by Woody Allen did use some
smoking and smoking hot scenes to convey the confused state of minds of its two
key protagonists – Chris Wilton played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers and
‘femme-fatal’ Nola Rice played by Scarlett Johansson. Neither of the two is
able to decide what exactly they want from each other and where their
relationship is going. These scenes work in bursts bringing situational change
with mostly Scarlett smoking and Jonathan maintaining a strong eye contact while
being at his coaxing best. The scene that stands out is the one at the
Ping-Pong table where Scarlett lets Jonathan know that he plays an aggressive
game. The scene has some double meaning put across in a subtle way.
4. Blood
Diamond: The smoking scene that stands out is the one where Danny
Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) approaches Maddy (Jennifer Connelly) unaware that
Maddy is a journalist. The conversation, though short and kind of meet-cute, is
racy with punctuation of smoke puffs by Leonardo. It is immediately clear that
the characters are strong enough to even give an inch to the other. The style
of smoke showcases the transitions of Leonardo’s attitude from trying to
approach a beautifully, casually dressed Jennifer Connelly (looking the best
she has ever looked on screen catching Danny off-guard) to warding her off when
he comes to know that she’s a journalist. Then while crushing the cigarette
butt, he says buzz off in a very creative fashion “I would like to get kissed,
before I get fucked”. The scene is lighted up by Leonardo’s acting and the
pacey conversation. Through the smoking scene, Leonardo’s face appears like a
mini-battlefield of emotions against the back-drop of the upheaval in South
Africa for mining ‘blood diamonds’.
5. ‘The
Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’: This iconic movie is etched in the
memories of several generations. The intensity and facial expressions of the
protagonists throughout the movie make up for the lack of dialogues. The
‘Mexican standoff’ at the climax, stands out among the smoking scenes in
Hollywood. It has clearly stood the test of time as far as popularity is
concerned. This scene is preceded by a battle of betrayal which adds to the
spice and creates a ‘nobody trusts anybody’ scenario. The climax is gripping
and is accompanied by an unparalleled background track, which adds to the
spice. The way Blondie (Clint Eastwood) smokes his cigar, while taking
positions and shooting the bad guy Angel Eyes into the grave, displays his
coolness and his nonchalance establishes who is in control. This is a powerful
scene which inspired innumerable directors and movies.
Obviously, I
had to leave out a lot of other high-quality scenes from other movies. However,
if we had to recollect the names of famous smokers in Hollywood, some of them
would be: Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men), John Travolta (Broken Arrow), Johnny
Depp, Al Pacino (Scarface, Tony Montana – ‘The World is Yours’, cigar in one
hand, remote control in the other), Denzel Washington (Training day, convincing
Ethan Hawke’s character to smoke marijuana), Marlon Brando (raw animal
magnetism), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Ethan Hawke (with Maggie Q in Yvan
Attal’s segment in the movie New York, I Love You), Sophie Marceau, Marion
Cotillard (Adriana in Midnight in Paris), Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts (My best
friend’s wedding), Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction).
posted by vagrant_vikas @ 7:16 AM
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