The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Country: US
Technical: col 135m
Director: John Cassavetes
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Azizi Johari
Synopsis:
Cosmo Vittelli, a seasoned strip club owner pays off his last instalment and goes out to celebrate with three of his prized girls. Before the night is out he is into the mob for over 20 grand and faces some grim choices. Throughout everything, he looks after his employees and remains proud of what he has achieved.
Review:
Cassavetes depicts two kinds of morality, that of the gangsters and loan sharks which is entirely based on money (with one egregious exception in Carey's character), and Cosmo's, unconventional but true. He treats his girls right, and when he has to kill a man to survive, he does so with efficiency, even tipping the cab driver. Like all the director's oeuvre, it's a rough and ready affair, with under-lit and out of focus shots left in, and there are holes here and there, but it never drags. And Gazzara is mesmerising.
Country: US
Technical: col 135m
Director: John Cassavetes
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Azizi Johari
Synopsis:
Cosmo Vittelli, a seasoned strip club owner pays off his last instalment and goes out to celebrate with three of his prized girls. Before the night is out he is into the mob for over 20 grand and faces some grim choices. Throughout everything, he looks after his employees and remains proud of what he has achieved.
Review:
Cassavetes depicts two kinds of morality, that of the gangsters and loan sharks which is entirely based on money (with one egregious exception in Carey's character), and Cosmo's, unconventional but true. He treats his girls right, and when he has to kill a man to survive, he does so with efficiency, even tipping the cab driver. Like all the director's oeuvre, it's a rough and ready affair, with under-lit and out of focus shots left in, and there are holes here and there, but it never drags. And Gazzara is mesmerising.
Country: US
Technical: col 135m
Director: John Cassavetes
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Azizi Johari
Synopsis:
Cosmo Vittelli, a seasoned strip club owner pays off his last instalment and goes out to celebrate with three of his prized girls. Before the night is out he is into the mob for over 20 grand and faces some grim choices. Throughout everything, he looks after his employees and remains proud of what he has achieved.
Review:
Cassavetes depicts two kinds of morality, that of the gangsters and loan sharks which is entirely based on money (with one egregious exception in Carey's character), and Cosmo's, unconventional but true. He treats his girls right, and when he has to kill a man to survive, he does so with efficiency, even tipping the cab driver. Like all the director's oeuvre, it's a rough and ready affair, with under-lit and out of focus shots left in, and there are holes here and there, but it never drags. And Gazzara is mesmerising.