Smoke and the arbitrariness of story

Just finished watching the movie Smoke. And I have a serious Three Buck Chuck buzz going on. So let’s just see if I’m able to write what I’m thinking I want to say, shall we? 🙂

The message is, storytelling is arbitrary. There are millions and millions and millions of stories, and they all run into one another and overlap, and you get to decide where to start and where to stop telling the story. It reminds me of something I always associate with having said on The List a while back (but, vito, if you feel like revealing your source, I’d be intrigued) about how the difference between comedy and tragedy is where you stop telling the story. I love that.

Anyway, it’s a good writer’s movie. Or artist’s movie. I love the concept piece they show Harvey Keitel’s character having worked on for years: taking photos for five minutes at 8:00 AM every morning from the same location. I would love to see a collection of those photos.

I wish I could say more, but the buzz is making me want to get up and dance around the apartment, and I must obey the buzz. 🙂