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“I’m Learning to Smoke Now”: The Evolution of Cigarettes in Orson Welles’s The Lady from Shanghai
- Source: Film Matters, Volume 13, Issue 1, Mar 2022, p. 68 - 82
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- 01 Mar 2022
Abstract
This article explores the symbolic connotations of cigarettes in Orson Welles’s The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Although a common theme in film noir, the act of smoking can become a dynamic component of cinematic narrative. My work argues that Elsa Bannister’s use of cigarettes in the film reinvents the object’s role within the genre, as cigarettes move from being a “thing” to embodying Elsa’s power. The article demonstrates this by examining valuable scenes through shot-by-shot analysis and thus challenging the characters’ agency in relation to Elsa.
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