Who doesn't love a good gangster movie? Goodfellas, Scarface, The Godfather...some of cinema's best and most entertaining films have depicted the rise and fall of the various lowlifes who happen to live the highlife, made possible through strong-arm tactics and organised crime. Gangsters are a perpetually compelling subject. There is very little glamour and sensationalising in 70s gangster/art film, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. That's because it's written and directed by the Godfather of Independent Cinema, John Cassvettes. Renowned for his loose, improvisational style and refusal to conform to traditional, linear narrative. He was a director like none other. And Chinese Bookie is a film like none other, too. It's genuinely difficult to compare it to anything else, let alone any other gangster/crime film. For that reason alone, you need to see it.