THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime / Drama

Director: John Cassavetes

Cast: Ben Gazzara / Seymour Cassel / Azizi Johari

Plot

The owner a sleazy strip joint falls in debt to some local gangsters, who persuade him to commit murder as means of payback.

What I Liked

While I watched “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie,” I couldn’t help but be reminded of “Mean Streets.”  Both films are relatively low-budget 1970s films; both are street-level crime dramas about men who wind up in over their heads with the wrong crowd; both feature highly improvised scripts and naturalistic performances.  So it was no surprise to later learn that director/writer John Cassavetes planned the film with the help of Martin Scorsese, the man behind “Mean Streets.”  I really enjoyed “Mean Streets,” and this movie kept me pretty well entertained as well.

“The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” shows off a lot more flesh and violence than does “Mean Streets,” and it’s clearly intentional.  You can’t set your film in a strip club and cast it with half a dozen mind-bogglingly buxom starlets from various porn and exploitation films without making an obvious ploy to pull in and entertain a certain kind of audience.  Thus Cassavetes and crew certainly cross-cross the line between sleaze and art and back again, but I really have no problem with that.  When the story slows down, at least one can always stare at the objectified women decorating the background.  Besides, and independent filmmaker Cassavetes problem couldn’t have gotten the funding to make his movie without a “sex sells” hook to convince investors that people would pay to watch it.

Even more captivating than the tits and murder, though, is the performance of lead Ben Gazzara.  One could argue that Gazzara always plays sleazeballs and criminal-types, which is exactly what he plays here.  What that argument misses, however, is that Gazzara brings a depth to the roll of main character Cosmo Vitelli that makes his character charming, repulsive, and, most unexpectedly, sympathetic.  Vitelli is a man who gets by on pure charisma and ego, charming the low-lifes and nitwits in his insular world into thinking the world revolves around him.  However, when he steps outside of that sphere of influence, he is just a man who is lost, desperate, and worst of all, uncomfortable.

What I Didn’t Like

“The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” is that kind of independent 1970s filmmaking that one just doesn’t find anymore.  Killed off by the big-budget, slick, corporate productions of the next decade, they featured looser storytelling, improvised performances, a notable lack of special effects, sometimes bad lighting, and main characters who were sometimes difficult to like.  I personally enjoy many of these movies, this one included.  But those who aren’t used to this kind of filmmaking might find “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” difficult to endure.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert!*

The further and further away Cosmo Vitelli moves from his club, the more insecure and frightened he becomes.  This is never more true than during the event described in the film’s title.  Right in the middle of the film we’re given the film’s most intense sequence as Vitelli, who can seemingly do no wrong in his own world, is reduced to nothing but a desperate, paranoid murderer, on the run for his life and seeking any way he can to return to the comfort of what he knows.

My Rating: 4 out of 5