The Killing of a Chinese Bookie(1976)


I remember picking this DVD only because of the name and I was not aware about the movie.The DVD shop fellow promised it to be a classic thriller and I believed his words.And to his words this movie is a thriller of a different kind which impressed me from the beginning.

A strip club owner Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara) because of his addiction towards gambling gets embroiled with a gang which forces him to murder a Chinese Bookie.He is never shown as a addicted person in the movie ,but we were made to realise given the situation before the girls he is forced to prove himself a winner,which puts him in to trouble and making him in debt.

Cosmo Vitelli is a proud man,he takes pride in describing and conducting his club.He makes life with girls and takes their life seriously .His conduct towards them is transparent with out intentions other than to entertain their life.After having a life at club it is not a easy task for him to kill a man which he doesn’t know.But he runs in the dark and desperate paths of blood to get saved for his pride and life. He tries to pretend, like his club girls in the mood which he doesn’t want.

We travel along Cosmo and get glared at his life with the girls in the club and get amused by the way he conducts his club.He never wants to show his mess to others and he keeps his hands on the club even when he is at trouble. Director John Cassavettes’s intentions are well brought out by the actor.We don’t remember any character other than this man in the movie.I could vaguely remember some club characters but the whole movie is with this man Cosmo which was never a exhaustive dose.

The visuals are treat in this movie, John Cassavettes had shown uniqueness in visuals with lights being treated differently according to the mood.He shows the fake and the real world with a bleak barrier which can be profusely understood in any mind.But what is so impressive about this movie is the way it ended.I never expected a dramatic ending with Cassavettes movie but it was a truthful and passionate climax which gives time to Gazzara to show his pride and spell out the words to the world about his club .

It may not be a very racy thriller genre but it definitely would entertain for the way its presented and for visuals.

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