Blue in the Face

Wayne Wang's and Paul Auster's tribute to Brooklyn captures the essence of the best not only with New York, but the whole of the United States. Afro-Ame-ricans, Caribbeans, Asians, Jews, Italians, Indians, Puerto Ricans, Poles and all nationalities and religions in between live side by side or intermingled and give the town a special unique flavour. But Brooklyn is also the beautiful old brownstones and lofts in Brooklyn Heights, Fort Green and Park Slope which were the backdrops in Spike Lee's Crooklyn. This is where the thriving art scene and a living jazz community can be found. And while homegirl Barbra Streisand seems to have abandoned her birth-place for good, you will still find both Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, John Tur-turro, Rosie Perez and assorted rap stars here. The writer Paul Auster loves his neigbourhood so much that he made his local cigar shop, run by the ficticious character Auggie Wren, played by Harvey Keitel, the setting for this autumn's hit film Smoke. The result, directed by Wang, was so good that the film company Mira-max gave a green light for a sequel right away. Blue in the Face was shot in just five days last summer, was mainly directed by Auster himself, and a herd of eccentric Hollywood celebrities were queueing up to participate, virtually without pay. A large part of the film's charm is that so many lines and dialogues are clearly improvised by actors whose talents are put to the test. Roseanne comes into the store as a clichéed frustrated housewife wearing too much make-up. Madonna delivers a sing-o-gram (wearing too much make-up). Michael J Fox lurks around as a homeless male drunk (wearing too much make-up to be recognised) and rising star Malik Yoba from the popular cop series New York Undercover plays Brooklyn's characteristic rough-neck hustler. However, the most priceless performace comes from a curly-haired Lou Reed, whose little monologues about everything under the sun (including one about Sweden) totally steal the show. To chat in the corner shop is the only chance of socialising for many New Yorkers and plays a greater part in their everyday life than perhaps in most places. Unlike Smoke, with its slightly cumbersome script and too many leading characters, Blue in the Face is nothing but the fascinating mosaic which makes New York the town you love to hate: the multitude, the desperation, the grime, the constant frustrations - everybody wants to be somewhere else, have someone they cannot have or be something they cannot be - but also the unexpected and unappreciated warmth and kindness between people. It is what makes New York, however awful it may seem sometimes, the city that will always be over-crowded. As Lou Reed's ageing slacker puts it: I have tried to leave for 35 years. Now I am almost ready. PA