Smoking

Compressing Alan Ayckbourn's variation-loaded octet of plays into a pair of interactive features, Resnais takes a playful look at the unknowing distortion and unlimited potential of human life from a detached position. Filmed entirely in a Paris studio depicting a Yorkshire village, it involves nine characters, all played by versatile thesps Sabine Azéma and Pierre Arditi. The plot evolves around the smoking and not smoking of a headmaster's wife, whose decision sparks off a different chain of events, but all the while back-pedals at crucial junctures and then branching off towards other direction. A funny yet enthralling examination of chance encounters, thoughts left unsaid, aspirations and disappointments, probing the provoking question: what if, life has other possibilities? 

Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Bear Award 

César Awards: 5 awards including Best Film and Best Director