By Elena Hijazi | Staff Writer 

It is a tale as old as time: smoking is cool. Why is this smelly and cancerous act considered cool, one might ask? It is because humans have always been hopelessly infatuated and enamoured by the dangerous and rebellious. Thus, smoking can be seen as a free act of voluntarily risking your life. As German philosopher Hegel believes, “It is solely by risking life that freedom is obtained.” In conclusion, smokers are free. Cinema definitely agrees with the coolness of cigarettes because they seem to be the real stars of most films. Cinema’s infatuation with cigarettes is not mindless, but it is a tool that filmmakers use to make audiences engage more with the characters and their plots.

To begin with, it is noteworthy that most cigarettes in cinema do not actually contain tobacco. Instead, they are herbal cigarettes that include plant products. They are used not only to protect the lungs of precious movie stars, but also to accommodate for certain rules put on film sets such as no indoor tobacco smoking and to avoid the issues that come with tobacco brand placements.

Cigarettes are aesthetically pleasing to look at, and they translate seamlessly onto the screen. They both amplify and symbolize the emotional state of the character that is smoking them. If a character is anxious, the smoker will impatiently look for a lighter, or inhale the smoke as if inhaling a breath of fresh air after a long and tiring day. The character’s relationship with smoking may also be a huge indicator of what type of character they are. If they are avid smokers, they are usually anxious, free-spirited, impulsive, or solitary characters. If they are trying to quit smoking, they are usually morally grey characters, hesitant, struggling, and sometimes weak. If they quit smoking and relapsed suddenly, they are usually going through a great change in their character arc. Cigarettes can be a great symbol of what the character is going through and an emblem of who the character is.

Sometimes, smoking a cigarette can be an act of rebellion or freedom for the character such as Fight Club’s Tyler Durden. Other times, it is used as a mechanism to portray a character that is not constrained by any rules. This often includes characters in gangster genre films, such as Henry Hill in Goodfellas, Antonio Montana in Scarface, or Ace Rothst in Casino. Seldom times, a character suddenly smokes for no reason other than cinematic pleasantry. Most recently, Maestro’s Leonard Bernstein (portrayed by Bradley Cooper) had this character smoking in every single scene except for the ones where his hand held a conducting baton instead of a cigarette. How a conductor holds a cigarette in his hand is poetic, and you cannot help but notice this.

In the best of times, the mere act of lighting the cigarette is a crucial indicator of a character’s turning point. The most twistingly subtle scene of The Godfather occurs when Michael Corleone notices how still his hands are as he lights the cigarette of a shaky and nervous Enzo, a man who is used to murder and mayhem. This scene occurs right before Michael shoots a man dead. This is a tough thing to notice on the first watch of the film, but this self-aware stillness is the bloodstained mark of Michael’s transition from shy and blithe to cold and riveting. There is no other scene where the audience gets a glimpse of how Michael feels about his transformation, and that is profound.

The significant element of a cigarette is that it can be easily held and moved by characters, and this reveals subtle character traits to a keen observer. Lighting a cigarette in films is a big opportunity for a close-up with fire near the face of the actor. This serves as an intimate tool to use to get to know the character better. It is also an opportunity for actors to showcase their acting range through simple facial expressions.

Moreover, when a character lights a cigarette, the sound of the lighter and of the inhale place the attention of the viewer onto the screen, and into the viewer himself as such scenes are usually quiet. They render the audience member free to soak in what they’re observing, and to think about the movie and the character more deeply. These scenes create a vehemently connective moment between the character and themselves, offering the room for more empathy towards the character and more engagement towards the film as a whole.

It goes without saying that if you need to smoke, smoke those herbal cigarettes like those cool movie stars. Embrace your inner Thomas Shelby healthily. This is my take on cigarettes in cinema, I bestow it upon you with an open mind and heart. Thank you for taking the time to read this.