Sabrina: The Breath of a Smoking Woman

In her second short film appearance after four years, Sabrina, an Italian fitness trainer and heavy smoker, returns to the screen. Through three carefully crafted scenes, this short film offers a raw and introspective look at her relationship with tobacco, contrasting her active, healthy lifestyle with her habit of smoking more than a pack a day.

• Scene 1: Sabrina, wearing a sheer white chemise, begins the first scene in the kitchen at night, passionately smoking three red 100s cork cigarettes, two of which are chain-smoked. Her exhales are intense and deliberate, almost like a breathing exercise for a yoga teacher. She smiles at the camera with satisfaction and sadness while exhaling smoke through her nostrils. The peace of the moment is only interrupted by her wet smoker’s cough. The sound of the cigarette crackling anticipates her deep inhales with evident pleasure. The sound of her labored breathing and her smoker’s voice completes the picture of her before-bed routine.She speaks in Italian, with English subtitles, explaining how inhaling the smoke deeply into her belly gives her unparalleled pleasure. Her chest visibly inflates with each drag. In a melancholic tone, she confesses that smoking is one of the few moments of happiness in her daily life. At the end of the scene, she wears an open denim jacket that reveals her slim and athletic figure.
• Scene 2: At sunset, Sabrina moves to the garden. The outdoor scene shows her smoking a cigarette, enveloped in the serenity of dusk. The surrounding nature contrasts with the smoke she inhales and exhales, creating a poetic and contradictory image.
• Scene 3: The final scene takes place by the swimming pool, where Sabrina smokes two cigarettes. The water and smoke intertwine in a visual dance, highlighting Sabrina’s dual lifestyle: the fitness trainer indulging in a destructive habit. Each drag is a testament to her inner complexity and her search for pleasure amidst daily routines.

This short film not only presents the reality of smoking from an aesthetically refined perspective but also invites reflection on human contradictions and the small sources of pleasure we find amidst our daily struggles. Without glorifying the act of smoking, the film delves into the emotions and motivations behind this behavior, offering a visually and emotionally rich experience.