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Twenty Cigarettes
2011
Director
James Benning
Runtime
99 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
Celebrated for his minimal, monumental landscape studies, James Benning turns to the intimacy of the portrait in his latest film, TWENTY CIGARETTES. Referencing Warhol’s screen tests, 1930s Hollywood glamour, and the disappearing cigarette break, the film captures 20 of Benning’s friends (including filmmaker Sharon Lockhart, cultural theorist Dick Hebdige, and book editor Janet Jenkins) satiating their smoke cravings. Each shot’s length is determined by the time it takes each subject to smoke a cigarette, and over the course of the film a dynamic range of personalities emerges out of an array of physical characteristics, distinctive settings, and personal relationships to the camera. (Amy Beste and Jessica Bardsley)
Where to Watch
Diversity & Representation
Overall Score
5.9/10
Fair
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film utilizes a structure modeled after Warhol’s screen tests to explore identity. While specific queer intimacies are not explicitly detailed, the intimate gaze invites a non-normative exploration of the subjects.
Gender Representation
By featuring female intellectuals and filmmakers like Sharon Lockhart, the film centers female agency. It avoids traditional male-centric portraiture by eschewing standard narrative roles in favor of unmediated presence.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
The film captures a range of physical characteristics through Benning's circle of friends. However, the specific racial composition of this personal group is not explicitly detailed.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The work frames the stigmatized ritual of smoking through a secular, existentialist lens. It prioritizes individual temporal experiences over institutional or religious structures and social norms.
Disability Representation
The film does not provide evidence of disability as a central theme. There is no specific focus on neurodivergence or physical impairment within the portraits.
Strengths
- Subverts traditional directorial power by letting subjects dictate shot length.
- Centers female agency through the inclusion of prominent female intellectuals.
- Avoids didactic storytelling in favor of a democratic, observational approach.
Areas for Improvement
- Lacks explicit detail regarding the racial composition of the subjects.
- Does not provide clear evidence of disability or neurodivergent representation.
- Specific queer identities and intimacies remain unconfirmed within the portraits.
AI Analysis
James Benning’s *Twenty Cigarettes* functions as a meditative disruption of documentary tropes. By allowing the duration of each shot to be dictated by the subjects' own actions, the film creates a democratic relationship between the observer and the observed. The work moves away from didactic storytelling, favoring a nuanced study of human presence. It resists easy categorization by granting significant agency to the individuals being filmed. While the film succeeds in subverting traditional power dynamics and centering intellectual agency, the specific demographic breakdowns of the subject pool remain largely unstated.
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