Mention the name Paul Auster around these parts and it will be met with a hushed reverence. Well, last night I saw a film called Blue in the Face, which Auster wrote and co-directed. True to form, it was excellent. Constructed as a series of vignettes set around a cigar shop in Brooklyn, it was both funny and insightful. In between the vignettes Lou Reed popped up to tell us what being a native of Brooklyn means, and other famous faces such as Madonna, Michael J Fox and Jim Jarmusch appeared in the scenes. Essentially it is a love letter to the borough that Auster has spent a great deal of his life and career. This is a sequel to a film called Smoke, which I have yet to see, but I will be searching it out with no delay.

ADDENDUM: Well, it’s a week later and I have just, this minute, finished watching Smoke. I am stunned by its beauty and I feel another viewing is probably forthcoming. It follows the staff and customers of the cigar shop mentioned above. William Hurt plays Paul Benjamin a novelist who is struggling with the death of his wife (no prizes for guessing this is Auster’s alter-ego). When his life is saved by a young black kid he starts to look after him, inviting him to stay in his flat and finding him a job. I can’t really describe the numerous strands of the plot in this post, but needless to say Auster’s usual themes of fatherhood, coincidence, and identity, are all present and correct. Like his novels, I feel this film continues to expand the same world. I can highly recommend this!

I’ve also just found this, written by the director of Smoke, Wayne Wang.