The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

That was an excellent one.

Really Surprised!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

No need to recap the plot. By now I've got Gazzara's profile stamped on my brain like it or not. That might be okay if his character had more than two expressions, a sneaky smile and a stony deadpan. I guess those are meant to indicate Cosmo's tough resolve that eventually emerges. Okay, the movie reflects director-writer Cassavetes' experiment at using close-ups rather than dialog to drive narrative. Sometimes it works impressively, Faces (1968), for example. Here, however, the many extended shots sap story line, and not even the many bare breast drop-ins compensate. Okay, maybe I'm stuck in 40's tight crime flicks, but I'd love to see what RKO and Anthony Mann would do with the same premise. For sure, the results would be less self-indulgent. No doubt, both Cassavetes and buddy Gazzara are extremely talented moviemakers. But that doesn't mean every shot hits its mark. And here, I'm afraid we've got a meandering misfire.

Damn, what a masterpiece we have here!Probably my favorite Cassavetes movie.It's a combo of feelings. We have a deep loneliness here. Gazzara's character (Cosmo Vitelli) is the classic anti-hero, you can't hate him even if he kills a dog. The loneliness around him the whole movie is impressive, he is a true men, ready to do what is necessary for his life. The whole ambient are really dark too, with a lot heavy talk and killer scenes. The scene where Cosmo kills the Chinese bookie, for example, damn, it's a true classic. There's a lot of that kind of fear and loneliness that you can find just under the big city lights. And the way the movie captives you is impressive. You can see here a lot of things that influenced guys like Scorsese. Cassavetes is definitely unique and this movie is all you need to know about him. It's a masterpiece.

This 1976 John Cassavetes feature is one of his most blatantly autobiographical. Starring Ben Gazzara as sleazy strip club owner and tragic loser Cosmo Vitelli, the film is shot in a distant and poetic documentary style reminiscent of Cassavetes' earlier film 'A Woman Under the Influence' (1974), and can be thought of as a sort of companion piece.The film follows Vitelli as he fails to pay Gambling debt, is given the task of pegging off a Chinese book-keeper, and ends up killing several Chinese men by accident - causing him to plunge into even deeper trouble with criminals. It's a moving character study of a man in the claws of a desperate situation, and like most of Cassavetes' films is a forerunner to a lot of the indie filmmaking that came after it.An essential work by a director whose approach to capturing actors on camera inspired a generation of filmmakers, it is dark and foreboding in tone but also sublime and poetic in its use of meandering camera-work and close-ups. Ben Gazarra gives a fine performance as Cosmo, who is equal parts hero and sad moron, and the supporting cast does well embodying the gangsters, strippers, and Carnivalesque performers who move through his world.An interesting piece of American cinema and essential Cassavetes. 7/10.

It's been said by many that "Chinese Bookie" is the toughest of any Cassavetes films to digest. There are many slow passages (here I'm referring to the 1976 original version), many moments of embarrassing awkwardness, as you are forced to watch extended sequences filled with players who aren't any more talented or skilled than those at your local summer stock production or junior high school play.Yet, it's very difficult not to be compelled by the story, especially as embodied in the character of Cosmo Vitelli, who Ben Gazzara seems to channel effortlessly, as if he were a second, transparent skin.Cosmo is a fascinating character. He owns a rather ratty strip club/cabaret joint on the Sunset Strip that fronts production values and performers of the qualities mentioned earlier, does middling business, and spends nearly every dime he makes "living the high life" or the "the image" of what someone in his profession should espouse. He swills $100 bottles of Champagne, cruises around town in his plush chauffeured Caddy, an entourage of bimbettes in tow, usually to a dive mob-run poker joint that inevitably lands him in massive debt.He would be an easy character to scorn or mock in another film, but not as Gazzara and Cassavetes portray him. Cosmo is proud of his little world and his accomplishments, and further more, could not give a damn if anyone doesn't approve of them. "You have no style," he sneers at gangster Al Ruban early in the film after the thug condescends to him.As weird as it sounds, you have to respect someone like that, even when he finds himself increasingly trapped by circumstances and succumbing to self-doubt. At the end of the picture he says how important it is to "feel comfortable" with oneself and while we don't believe for a second that Cosmo really feels this way, we know he *wants* to. It's a refreshingly human response in a movie that only contains more of the same.It's not a conventional audience pleaser by any means, but if you've watched other Cassavetes pictures and like his candid stream-of-consciousness style, give the 1978 edited version of "Bookie" a watch before you see the original. Cass not only cut half an hour of footage, he did it with (what else?) incredible style and creativity, really tightening the structure of the film as a whole, considerably juicing its already engaging premise.Quite possibly the most overlooked gem from one of the '60s and '70s most commercially under-appreciated directors.