The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and sadly neglected film
Review: "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is one of my all time favourite films and I bought it the moment I saw it was on DVD. However the DVD is quite dissapointing considering it is not in widescreen (even though it doesn't really suffer from cropping) and the picture and sound quality are quite dodgy. Nevertheless it is a brilliant and powerful film that contains an excellent performance from Ben Gazzara as well as some very memorable scenes and visuals. This is surely a films that deserves a place in any true film buffs DVD collection.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and sadly neglected film
Review: "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is one of my all time favourite films and I bought it the moment I saw it was on DVD. However the DVD is quite dissapointing considering it is not in widescreen (even though it doesn't really suffer from cropping) and the picture and sound quality are quite dodgy. Nevertheless it is a brilliant and powerful film that contains an excellent performance from Ben Gazzara as well as some very memorable scenes and visuals. This is surely a films that deserves a place in any true film buffs DVD collection.

Rating:
Summary: Fine film noir
Review: an indebeted club owner has to knockoff a prolific underworld figure as means of settling his tab. subtext abounds in this noir classic.

Rating:
Summary: Fine film noir
Review: an indebeted club owner has to knockoff a prolific underworld figure as means of settling his tab. subtext abounds in this noir classic.

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Summary: Behind-the-scenes info for Cass buffs
Review: For a fascinating behind-the-scenes info about The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and a list of books about Cassavetes' work, go to Ray Carney's website dedicated to John Cassavetes (found through any search engine).


Rating:
Summary: Catching cassavetes
Review: It is one of those forgotten movies in the usa,that years later suddenly catched the interest back from the american public.In europe he reached very early a cultstatus but in the usa Cassavetes was never understood in his beginning directoryears, because his movies were totally the opposite of most of his movies as an actor.

Rating:
Summary: Its A Mood And A Feeling It Gives You
Review: One of my favorite films ever. Gazzara gives an incredible performance. One of Cassavetes' best films. I have been greatly influenced by this film in my wanting to become a film director.

Rating:
Summary: Its A Mood And A Feeling It Gives You
Review: One of my favorite films ever. Gazzara gives an incredible performance. One of Cassavetes' best films. I have been greatly influenced by this film in my wanting to become a film director.

Rating:
Summary: Genre-bending astonishingly inventive improv. thriller.
Review: One of the finest Cassavetes films, sadly overlooked (like the marvellous "Minnie and Moskovitz", never available on video). Defying genre categorization, it hovers between action movie (intimations of Scorsese, Wong Kar Wai), soft-porn critique by way of non-judgemental representation, improbable love story (Gazzara with one his strippers) and exploration of the limits of improvisational cinema. Extraordinary for its sense of milieu (strip joint, Low-life criminals and Chinese mafia) within which Gazzara tries to live what approximates a decent life. Possibly suffered when Cassavetes went into it again for a director's cut, surprisingly shortening it, the longer original version being much better. It seems it's the shorter version that was available on video. Should still be on sale in Britain, but then in PAL version only. In the end a remarkable exploration of the limits of cinematic representation in terms of drama (in this case of exceptionally seedy languor) and psychological characterisation, as with the best of Cassavetes films.

Rating:
Summary: Core Cassavetes
Review: This film is another of Cassavetes' best. Like the others in this Pioneer series, the DVD is merely adequate: it delivers the picture and sound. Likewise, Ray Carney provides a brief analytical essay in the insert that should be useful to anyone not familiar with Cassavetes' film art. We're lucky to have this film available in any form, so there's not much more to say!