They could of had 10% of the smoking and still got the point across.
Some directors are fascinated with smoking.
If smoking in movies annoys you then don't watch this movie. I thought it was was too much and very distracting.
And did not add anything to the plot once you realized she smoked and the mom did not like it it was all they needed.
Ha, that's really interesting you wrote this today as I was about to post something to similar effect but thought I'd be shot down in flames for being 'precious'.
Agree with you 100%
I do realise that people smoked quite a lot then, but watching the the very attractive characters incessantly sucking on fags in pretty much every scene made me feel quite nauseous and then suspicious of the producers' motives. As in, did a tobacco company pay them to overdo it like this?
And like you say, too much attention was given to it and it simply seemed way out of proportion.
I loved this movie, the wit, the humour the brilliant cast, fabulous. One of the best I've seen for ages.
But if you hate smoking or are trying to give up, be warned!!
it didn't affect me at all and i am not smoking or willing to start smoking after watching any character doing so. some great artists smoked too, or did drugs but that didn't stop me from admiring their work nor did i get tempted to try what they are smoking. they were role models in other areas.
if you notice in the film, smoking was something that made Mrs.Whittaker stand out from everyone, actually the lack of smoking. it was like a hide n seek thing among them, we smoke and then we throw away at her presence and as the story developed that changed. it was part of the story - almost a character with a role of its own- and it was there to stress out other things rather than making us start smoking. i am sure the producer had nothing to do with this.
proud member of the BARNES IS NOBLE society
Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray? NOW I'm totally Barned!
I'm not a smoker and i discourage anyone to smoke around me, for i really can't stand it.
Yet, if after watching THAT movie all you notice is the smoking, then you certainly have some issues to solve!!!
Witty coments and sarcasm are flying around like bullets the charactures being so tortured and torned between what they want and what they come with and all you can say about is the smoking?!
Smoking was essential for that period - i've seen MAD MEN on TV and they're smoking pretty much, too....Stop notice that and pay attention what really matters....the story.
"It's over now, the music of the night!"
I'm not a smoker and I didn't even notice it.
shareYou have GOT to be kidding me. Same goes for the poster who suspected the tobacco companies had paid them. It never ceases to boggle me what people obsess over.
sharePeople who complain about smoking in any piece of storytelling set before 1980 should really just...get a life. To cut down on the constant smoking would make the film historically inaccurate.
If you don't like smoking, don't smoke!
I felt that way when I watched Atonement too. I wonder how much money they got from the tobacco industry for product placement.
shareIf they'd had 10% of the smoking it wouldn't have seemed genuine. It would have seemed forced, like they put it in just to make the point that people smoked then.
In films set in this time period, people are very likely to smoke quite a bit. Back then, people smoked a lot. There weren't no-smoking sections or an awareness of the hazards (or even an awareness of how annoying cigarette smoke is to non-smokers). As recently as the 1980s, people could smoke on airplanes.
In this movie, the smoking seemed quite natural - Larissa was always stressed and so she was smoking; John tried to hide it because it displeased his mother.
I was annoyed by the constant smoking as well. At first I thought it might be those fake cigarettes that are now often being used, since all the cigs appeared to be full length with just a beginning of ash accumulation, but in the DVD extras, when Larita is pining on the seat before heading down to the ball, she is definitely half way through one, and snuffs it out.
I also find there's a new found obsession in some films with over emphasising the sound of the 'burning puff' as the smoker inhales. I remember when my sister used to smoke during phone conversations I could tell that she was from the sound of her inhalations... as well as constantly hearing the deep inhalations of all my smoking friends (as well as all my family members) through the 70s and 80s, but they sounded nothing like these movie cracking sparkling combustion sounds. It all seems really exaggerated to me.
The director did mention he didn't use cigarette holders purposefully in order to actualise the film... but still.
***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**
None of you people have read the Coward play on which this inept film was based. A cigarette butt was a key point in Coward's play.
shareNone of you people have read the Coward play
Oh my God... stop whining.
shareIf you'd read the play you'd know.
This small item acted as the symbol of the American woman's vulgarity.
It's the same kind of symbol as the collar stud used in 'A Passage To India' by E.M. Forster.
This small item acted as the symbol of the American woman's vulgarity.
A cigarette butt was a key point in Coward's play.
The smoking was heavy by today's standards, but for the period in which the film takes place, it was actually quite understated.
shareI'm not sure about the other actors but I know Ben Barnes is a smoker in real life. I really didn't mind the smoking. I don't smoke myself but I know a lot of people who do and it doesn't bother me, and as others have said in this discussion, smoking was common back then. People bitch way too much about the littlest things.
share