4. The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Dir. John Cassavetes Cast: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Agooglia Carey, Seymour Cassel and Azizi Johari Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara) is a strip-club owner, but hes not the wisest of folks- he decides to celebrate finally paying off a gambling debt by going to a club to play all-night poker. Unsurprisingly it gets him into debt with a set of rather amicable seeming gangsters. They say they will let him off if (youve guessed it!) he kills a Chinese bookie that owes them money. And we all know by now, if things look easy that means they can and will go wrong I think the big argument about John Cassavete's films is how much are they improvised? My understanding is that the frameworks of the scenes are there, but the actors build on their character through improvised dialogue and actions. Ill freely admit that Im not actually a fan of improvised movies. When it comes to films I like them formal, I like structure. These films really rely on their cast, so one or two weak links and it all falls apart. The Killing Of A Chinese Bookies strength comes from the brilliant performance of Ben Gazzara as Cosmo. Ben Gazzara passed away earlier in the year, a great loss to cinema. He was a fantastic character actor who worked both stage and screen. The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie may well be his best performance. Cosmo is a sap who cant catch a break, but its easy to emphasis with him. But, as I said before, improvised films come down to the cast. Some of the performances, mostly the gangsters, are great- the fact that the gangsters seem down to earth is a strength of the movie- but some of the performances of the strippers/dancers are lacking. In improved movies I always pick on when the performer gets confused because they start acting confidentially flustered. If you watch some improvised movies, youll know what I mean. What makes The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie stand out (apart from the great Ben Gazzara) is the way it blends the art house and the genre movie. Even I would argue that the film is not always successful, but if your taste is for more unusual movies with a crime element, well, youre in for a treat.