Smoke wears technology like an old sweater. Every day for eleven years, Auggie has been taking a photo at the same time, eight in the morning, from the same spot, kitty-corner from the cigar shop he manages. It's his life's work. Paul flips through an album, saying they're all the same. So is the movie.
Smoke is a regional film.
It says any corner of the world is the world. Slow down and look. It's a friend of people who value neighbourhood, of people who value heritage, of people who value staying put. And of people who smoke and get along with old machines. Paul tells Rashid the story of the man whose father was lost in an avalanche.