Coffee and Cigarettes

Benigni (of La Vita a Bella and grandstanding Oscar acceptance speech fame) and Steven Wright (of all those great quotes cult-fame) sit out a mini-marathon of coffee and cigarettes over a few minutes. It's in black and white, and has a bit of a timeless quality to it - it was filmed in the 80s, but could have been made yesterday.

Basically, the two introduce themselves to each other, stumble over a conversation involving coffee, cigarettes, dreaming and the Indy 500. Finally, the conversation comes to an upcoming dental appointment and the punchline. Steven Wright is left with a faintly bemused look on his face and that's it.

It's a good little short, but outside of it being part of last year's "Coffee and Cigarettes" film (a collation of several shorts involving Bill Murray, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett and a few others) it's a bit of a curio. Interesting to see Benigni ten years before his breakthrough. If you like this, check out "Down By Law", which is a feature-length Jarmusch film, also in cultish b&w.