# Smoking/No Smoking
**Smoking/No Smoking** is a 1993 French comedy-drama diptych directed by [Alain Resnais](https://www.edgepedia.org/alain-resnais), consisting of two companion films, *Smoking* and *No Smoking*, that follow the same [Yorkshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorkshire) villagers through branching versions of their lives depending on whether the character Celia Teasdale lights a cigarette in the opening scene. The screenplay by Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui adapts six of the eight major variations of Alan Ayckbourn's play cycle *Intimate Exchanges*, and the entire cast of nine characters is played by two actors, Sabine Azéma and Pierre Arditi, with Peter Hudson as the narrator's voice.[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) • [2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html) • [3](https://www.filmfestival.be/en/film/smokingno-smoking)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Alain Resnais; adaptation and dialogue by Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui, from Alan Ayckbourn's *Intimate Exchanges*[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) |
| Premiere | 15 December 1993 in French cinemas; UK premiere 16 September 1994[2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html) |
| Structure | Two films adapting six of the eight major variations of the play cycle; two actors play nine characters, with twelve epilogues[2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html) • [1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) |
| Running times | About 140 minutes for *Smoking* and 145 minutes for *No Smoking* by the Ayckbourn archive's count; the Cinémathèque française lists *Smoking* at 148 minutes[2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html) • [1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) |
| Cast | Sabine Azéma (Celia, Rowena, Sylvie, Irène, Joséphine), Pierre Arditi (Toby, Miles, Lionel, Joe), Peter Hudson (narrator)[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) |
| Awards | César Awards 1994 for Best Film, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Actor, and Best Production Design; Prix Louis Delluc 1993; Silver Berlin Bear for outstanding single achievement at the 1994 Berlinale[4](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled/styled-2/) • [2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html) |
| Production countries | France, Italy, Switzerland[5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/a3451a28-5487-5550-b0a6-ab34f89c725c/smokingno-smoking) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
Both films open identically. In a Yorkshire village, Celia Teasdale, the wife of the school headmaster Toby, rests from spring cleaning in her garden and considers whether to light a cigarette from a packet on the table. In *Smoking* she smokes it; in *No Smoking* she does not, and the two narratives diverge from that single decision.[6](https://www.metropolefilms.com/index.php/filmlink?id=f2f49b04-7744-40d0-b55a-d22404324114&lang=EN) • [7](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/smoking-smoking-2-review/)
From that point the story branches repeatedly. A choice is made at the end of each scene, and the action continues according to it, moving forward five days or five years; variations are signaled by the onscreen title "Or else".[8](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-press-release-curiouser-and-curiouser-the-films-of-alain-resnais-2011-05-26.pdf) The same characters meet in different orders and combinations: in one version they marry, in another they never speak, and one character dies in one story and lives in the next.[9](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/smoking-no-smoking/) The Cinémathèque française summarizes the design as two films, two actors, nine characters, and twelve epilogues, a chain of reactions and false leads that questions the meaning of the characters' choices.[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) A scholarly analysis of forking-path narratives describes the work as the most complex conventional motion picture with respect to the quantity of nodal situations and branching story strands, while noting that all developments stem from one initial nodal situation.[10](https://prod-com-bibliolabs-nuvique-app-content.s3.amazonaws.com/SID-0000000619927/SID-0000000619927_optimized.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQDGBNSODHLTPL4G7%2F20260321%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260321T110714Z&X-Amz-Expires=10&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIL%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIBfkAi41prLmgRreybB28031FWBoQqBWuAmDOvwj1tnFAiALdWeoW69ZMKea6HSSRhYJex9FvEImIDQb2vDgRQxPXir3AwhLEAAaDDAwNjg0ODA5MTAxNCIM4JYcgGWRjFVRltw%2FKtQDlcgRNkOAmXnw8v5YY1h%2FO7%2FsApJ6RKA9oWiIuOBMfoiXLQ1Ay12E6VzPwSiBAbIUFL%2FjlfZvom2lsXN13QLrAj%2BuXhU%2B4%2BFMsQa1equS5GN4WzBSQjVM05PNf8oSuppXTESIxKKWi6VWVP65HE%2B3x3MHa%2F6pmfKGzGcgVwsvYL8ENd9IV1RwIIoWXCl1wsEqLn3Vrv0KZLLAr2n6CUnsxqmXUGtI2UqWHYihGBuR6jwnd%2BU00boqBgIH0aRz383zuPQCQxpWnqk0NNI7owU4wJ4gDFiG%2F40lI49eat7O7QO0%2FMNtHHWQf83YmgqlH8yaI8fbp1MewfFD0eMt8uR9DQIzQLyrP6X2T3CRjmVMZk4Y5t3kPmjPtmnWIVfkcIkKoote0I5%2Bqnos1dObpktgGtx3vmslFyvjyGfl8bHGB%2FqFLsxo4sUiC9q4v9VY%2FjwWV8AibH1BUaUIXVPE1HVjXhoJEWKE4ojmlTooF4a5HaYkOd0rmfX1uFFPAgv%2BBUT8nUAcltjjLWgkOrFhFoIxcHv%2B0fuCJp0WjZq0VCh8HOc%2FlYOHuUzSEexCLNXg3OZyihEgDtsQq1pLngkjc3aOc65L4J5YoXOrPeNzpWiqYtdKPMSmMJHY%2Bc0GOqYBK2wTNIbWuVbaighB622TAxX63iiTUrCn%2FBuFvtdkuV1Avpss9L3%2B2%2BHRNdr74vTHLIWrVBlAj4zt6WOa6qpuN5%2FDcUuo4xR3ZPW8c6peiicD7pAK%2Fe4GyNyePTcuSRMUBNWGajQ%2F10P7ed81PY%2FTqwfpMy79bN9D1uqKyS3kBqw7z%2FrCRjDopI%2BNvNpmeoCkxNk0o9OdFgZ%2B%2BXUov%2BmBdyo5hMxHFg%3D%3D&X-Amz-Signature=e30163fe1138d576643bb9964b07549d49a63ee24519ab272adca2128b93cf54&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host)
The two films were designed to be seen in either order. Resnais said the two films complement each other but each viewer may choose the sequence.[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D8962.html) In 1993 both were screened in theaters at the same time, and it was up to the viewer to decide in which sequence to watch them.[10](https://prod-com-bibliolabs-nuvique-app-content.s3.amazonaws.com/SID-0000000619927/SID-0000000619927_optimized.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQDGBNSODHLTPL4G7%2F20260321%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260321T110714Z&X-Amz-Expires=10&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIL%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIBfkAi41prLmgRreybB28031FWBoQqBWuAmDOvwj1tnFAiALdWeoW69ZMKea6HSSRhYJex9FvEImIDQb2vDgRQxPXir3AwhLEAAaDDAwNjg0ODA5MTAxNCIM4JYcgGWRjFVRltw%2FKtQDlcgRNkOAmXnw8v5YY1h%2FO7%2FsApJ6RKA9oWiIuOBMfoiXLQ1Ay12E6VzPwSiBAbIUFL%2FjlfZvom2lsXN13QLrAj%2BuXhU%2B4%2BFMsQa1equS5GN4WzBSQjVM05PNf8oSuppXTESIxKKWi6VWVP65HE%2B3x3MHa%2F6pmfKGzGcgVwsvYL8ENd9IV1RwIIoWXCl1wsEqLn3Vrv0KZLLAr2n6CUnsxqmXUGtI2UqWHYihGBuR6jwnd%2BU00boqBgIH0aRz383zuPQCQxpWnqk0NNI7owU4wJ4gDFiG%2F40lI49eat7O7QO0%2FMNtHHWQf83YmgqlH8yaI8fbp1MewfFD0eMt8uR9DQIzQLyrP6X2T3CRjmVMZk4Y5t3kPmjPtmnWIVfkcIkKoote0I5%2Bqnos1dObpktgGtx3vmslFyvjyGfl8bHGB%2FqFLsxo4sUiC9q4v9VY%2FjwWV8AibH1BUaUIXVPE1HVjXhoJEWKE4ojmlTooF4a5HaYkOd0rmfX1uFFPAgv%2BBUT8nUAcltjjLWgkOrFhFoIxcHv%2B0fuCJp0WjZq0VCh8HOc%2FlYOHuUzSEexCLNXg3OZyihEgDtsQq1pLngkjc3aOc65L4J5YoXOrPeNzpWiqYtdKPMSmMJHY%2Bc0GOqYBK2wTNIbWuVbaighB622TAxX63iiTUrCn%2FBuFvtdkuV1Avpss9L3%2B2%2BHRNdr74vTHLIWrVBlAj4zt6WOa6qpuN5%2FDcUuo4xR3ZPW8c6peiicD7pAK%2Fe4GyNyePTcuSRMUBNWGajQ%2F10P7ed81PY%2FTqwfpMy79bN9D1uqKyS3kBqw7z%2FrCRjDopI%2BNvNpmeoCkxNk0o9OdFgZ%2B%2BXUov%2BmBdyo5hMxHFg%3D%3D&X-Amz-Signature=e30163fe1138d576643bb9964b07549d49a63ee24519ab272adca2128b93cf54&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host)
## Source and adaptation
The films draw on *Intimate Exchanges*, a play cycle Alan Ayckbourn wrote in 1982 with a common opening scene and decisions at the end of each scene leading to sixteen possible variations across eight major versions. The film adapts six of the eight major variations.[4](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled/styled-2/) On stage, Celia's decision whether to smoke is made in silence; for the film, the adaptation renders the moment as the visible starting point of the two narratives.[2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html)
Resnais approached the adaptation, in his own account, out of what he called "imaginary jealousy": he did not want someone else to film Ayckbourn's work. When he presented the project, Ayckbourn called him crazier than himself and asked how he would find a producer equally mad; Resnais reportedly answered that he would film not all sixteen variations but twelve of them.[12](https://www.premiersplans.org/en/film/no-smoking) • [13](https://biography.alanayckbourn.net/styled-5/styled-19/BiographyFAQFilm.html) Two segments were dropped from the play cycle for the film, a cricket scene and a medieval play-within-the-play, judged too British for a French audience.[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D8962.html) Before settling on the final titles, the two films were briefly called *Ou bien, ou bien* and *C'est comme ça ou autrement*.[11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D8962.html)
## Production and style
**Studio artifice.** The films were shot entirely in a Paris studio, with silent-movie-type music and cartoon captions, an approach the Empire review describes as an unashamed embrace of theatrical artifice.[7](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/smoking-smoking-2-review/) Resnais said filming in a studio was an immediate choice, to give unity of light and unity of performance, since the heavily written dialogue would have become artificial against real locations; he added that he built a set that said it was a set, which he likes in cinema.[12](https://www.premiersplans.org/en/film/no-smoking) The garden, the hill, and the house are painted backdrops, and the narrative makes no claim to realism.[9](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/smoking-no-smoking/)
**Two actors, nine roles.** Sabine Azéma plays the five female characters (Celia Teasdale, Rowena Coombes, Sylvie Bell, Irene Pridworthy, and Josephine Hamilton) and Pierre Arditi the four male ones (Toby Teasdale, Miles Coombes, Lionel Hepplewick, and Joe Hepplewick), changing clothes, voice, and bearing while the film does not hide the doubling.[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) • [9](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/smoking-no-smoking/) The BFI press release notes a stylistic difference between the parts: *Smoking* uses continuous takes while *No Smoking* uses more traditional decoupage, and the tone shifts from comedy and drama into farce and melodrama in the first film and toward a darker set of variations, including a couple of deaths, in the second.[8](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-press-release-curiouser-and-curiouser-the-films-of-alain-resnais-2011-05-26.pdf)
The creative team included cinematographer Renato Berta, editor Albert Jurgenson, production designer Jacques Saulnier, costume designer Jackie Budin, and composer John Pattison, whose score also incorporates Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 ("The Inextinguishable").[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html) • [14](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_r/films_resnais_alain/smoking_no_smoking.htm) Production companies included Arena Films, Camera One, France 2 Cinéma, Vega Film, Canal+, and Alia Film, with Pyramide as the original French distributor.[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html)
## Reception and awards
At the 1994 [César Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-awards) the diptych won Best Film, Best Director (Resnais), Best Writing (Bacri and Jaoui), Best Actor (Pierre Arditi), and Best Production Design (Saulnier).[4](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled/styled-2/) It also received the 1993 Prix Louis Delluc, the 1994 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics award for Best Film, and the Silver Berlin Bear for outstanding single achievement at the 1994 [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival).[2](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html)
The critic [Susan Sontag](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-sontag), writing in *Artforum*, called it "a brilliant, ingenious, hilarious film".[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/smokingno_smoking_1993) [The Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-empire) review judged *No Smoking* the more consistently dramatic and engaging of the two, while crediting Azéma and Arditi with such expressive versatility that viewers forget only two actors are involved.[7](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/smoking-smoking-2-review/) Audience scores on aggregator sites have varied: IMDb lists 7.3/10 and TMDB 6.5/10, while AlloCiné's spectator rating is 3.3 out of 5.[9](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/smoking-no-smoking/) • [11](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D8962.html)
## Title and meaning
Resnais said the title carried no message about tobacco. Both films began with the scene in which Celia chooses to smoke or not to smoke, and the plot then varied substantially; he joked to the producer that the pair could be called *Smoking, no smoking*, and the joke was kept because people liked it and it was catchy.[16](https://elpais.com/diario/1994/02/15/cultura/761266812_850215.html) In a 1993 statement he framed the theme more broadly: free will rests on shifting sands, mood perpetually colors minutes and hours, and the constant pull of alternatives produces perpetual anxiety.[1](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html)
## References
1. [Smoking (Alain Resnais, 1993), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/52306.html)
2. [Film (1993), Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website, Intimate Exchanges pages](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled-9/page17.html)
3. [Smoking/No Smoking, Film Fest Gent](https://www.filmfestival.be/en/film/smokingno-smoking)
4. [Intimate Exchanges chronology, Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website](https://intimateexchanges.alanayckbourn.net/styled/styled-2/)
5. [SMOKING/NO SMOKING (1993), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/a3451a28-5487-5550-b0a6-ab34f89c725c/smokingno-smoking)
6. [No Smoking synopsis, Métropole Films](https://www.metropolefilms.com/index.php/filmlink?id=f2f49b04-7744-40d0-b55a-d22404324114&lang=EN)
7. [Smoking / No Smoking Review, Empire (1994)](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/smoking-smoking-2-review/)
8. [Curiouser and Curiouser: The Films of Alain Resnais, BFI press release (2011)](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-press-release-curiouser-and-curiouser-the-films-of-alain-resnais-2011-05-26.pdf)
9. [Smoking / No Smoking (1993): Plot, Cast & Rating, Pulse of Cinema](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/smoking-no-smoking/)
10. [Analysis of forking-path narratives in Smoking/No Smoking](https://prod-com-bibliolabs-nuvique-app-content.s3.amazonaws.com/SID-0000000619927/SID-0000000619927_optimized.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQDGBNSODHLTPL4G7%2F20260321%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260321T110714Z&X-Amz-Expires=10&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIL%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIBfkAi41prLmgRreybB28031FWBoQqBWuAmDOvwj1tnFAiALdWeoW69ZMKea6HSSRhYJex9FvEImIDQb2vDgRQxPXir3AwhLEAAaDDAwNjg0ODA5MTAxNCIM4JYcgGWRjFVRltw%2FKtQDlcgRNkOAmXnw8v5YY1h%2FO7%2FsApJ6RKA9oWiIuOBMfoiXLQ1Ay12E6VzPwSiBAbIUFL%2FjlfZvom2lsXN13QLrAj%2BuXhU%2B4%2BFMsQa1equS5GN4WzBSQjVM05PNf8oSuppXTESIxKKWi6VWVP65HE%2B3x3MHa%2F6pmfKGzGcgVwsvYL8ENd9IV1RwIIoWXCl1wsEqLn3Vrv0KZLLAr2n6CUnsxqmXUGtI2UqWHYihGBuR6jwnd%2BU00boqBgIH0aRz383zuPQCQxpWnqk0NNI7owU4wJ4gDFiG%2F40lI49eat7O7QO0%2FMNtHHWQf83YmgqlH8yaI8fbp1MewfFD0eMt8uR9DQIzQLyrP6X2T3CRjmVMZk4Y5t3kPmjPtmnWIVfkcIkKoote0I5%2Bqnos1dObpktgGtx3vmslFyvjyGfl8bHGB%2FqFLsxo4sUiC9q4v9VY%2FjwWV8AibH1BUaUIXVPE1HVjXhoJEWKE4ojmlTooF4a5HaYkOd0rmfX1uFFPAgv%2BBUT8nUAcltjjLWgkOrFhFoIxcHv%2B0fuCJp0WjZq0VCh8HOc%2FlYOHuUzSEexCLNXg3OZyihEgDtsQq1pLngkjc3aOc65L4J5YoXOrPeNzpWiqYtdKPMSmMJHY%2Bc0GOqYBK2wTNIbWuVbaighB622TAxX63iiTUrCn%2FBuFvtdkuV1Avpss9L3%2B2%2BHRNdr74vTHLIWrVBlAj4zt6WOa6qpuN5%2FDcUuo4xR3ZPW8c6peiicD7pAK%2Fe4GyNyePTcuSRMUBNWGajQ%2F10P7ed81PY%2FTqwfpMy79bN9D1uqKyS3kBqw7z%2FrCRjDopI%2BNvNpmeoCkxNk0o9OdFgZ%2B%2BXUov%2BmBdyo5hMxHFg%3D%3D&X-Amz-Signature=e30163fe1138d576643bb9964b07549d49a63ee24519ab272adca2128b93cf54&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host)
11. [Smoking/No Smoking, Film 1993, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D8962.html)
12. [No Smoking, Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers](https://www.premiersplans.org/en/film/no-smoking)
13. [Biography FAQ: Film, Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website](https://biography.alanayckbourn.net/styled-5/styled-19/BiographyFAQFilm.html)
14. [SMOKING NO SMOKING, Cinéma-français.fr](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_r/films_resnais_alain/smoking_no_smoking.htm)
15. [Smoking/No Smoking, Rotten Tomatoes (Susan Sontag, Artforum)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/smokingno_smoking_1993)
16. [Resnais interview, El País, 15 February 1994](https://elpais.com/diario/1994/02/15/cultura/761266812_850215.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on stage plays*
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