Smoking/No Smoking (1993)

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writers:

Alan Ayckbourn (play), Jean-Pierre Bacri,

Stars:

Sabine Azéma, Pierre Arditi, Peter Hudson

11 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sabine Azéma	...	Celia Teasdale / Sylvie Bell / Irene Pridworthy / Rowena Coombes / Josephine Hamilton
Pierre Arditi	...	Toby Teasdale / Miles Coombes / Lionel Hepplewick / Joe Hepplewick
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Hudson	...	Narrator

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

actress playing multiple roles | garden | alternative reality | cult director | crisis of conscience | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France Italy Switzerland

Language:

French

Release Date:

15 December 1993 (France)

Also Known As:

Fumar/Não Fumar

Filming Locations:

Studios 91 Arpajon, Saint-Germain-les-Arpajon, Essonne, France

Box Office

Gross:

$57,033 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arena Films, Caméra One, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

298 min 298 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two stars of these films also starred in the film version of Alan Ayckbourn's Private Fears in Public Places, also directed by Alain Resnais. Resnais and Sabine Azéma are husband and wife.

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Connections

Featured in Empreintes: Pierre Arditi, un acteur au présent (2012)

User Reviews

Old Gold

Once you get past the fact that French artistes have seen fit to adapt a set of Ayckbourn plays for the screen and leave the setting in Yorkshire rather than shifting it a la Hollywood to the Jura so that all the place-names, notices, etc are in English and only the dialogue is French, there is much to enjoy. Not least the adaptation by the stand-out team of Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri who, even as I write, may well cop a gong at Cannes (I write this on the final day of this year's festival and their Comme d'un Image, which is also directed by Jaoui must, if there is any justice, cop a Best Screenplay Award and, in passing show Jury Foreman Quentin Tarentino how the big boys do it) and who prove here that they can adapt other writers as well as writing brilliant originals. It can take a while for the audience to adapt - especially a non-theatregoing audience - to the sets which are clearly theatrical and respect the conventions of theatre so that if a character enters a house we, the audience cannot follow as in a conventional film but must remain outside until they emerge, often as another character because that is another coup, Sabine Azema and Pierre Arditi handle ALL the acting chores between them and revel in ringing the changes on nine characters. Changes of scene and/or time lapses are marked by large 'picture-book' cards of the type used to teach infants to read universally. Weighing in at two and a half hours each this brace represents either a long haul or great value, yer pays yer money an' yer takes yer choice. As for me, I'd walk a mile for a Camel. 8/10