The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
File:Killing of a chinese bookie.jpg
Directed by	John Cassavetes
Written by	John Cassavetes
Produced by	Al Ruban
Starring	Ben Gazzara Timothy Carey Seymour Cassel Robert Phillips
Release dates	February 15, 1976
Running time	135 min
Language	English

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a 1976 gangster film directed and written by John Cassavetes and starring Ben Gazzara.

A rough and gritty film, it is comparable in form to Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973) and indeed Scorsese helped Cassavetes in its inception. The formidable character Gazzara plays was based on an impersonation he did for his friend Cassavetes in the 1970s. The actor and director collaborated for the first time on Cassavetes' film Husbands (1970) where Gazzara appeared alongside Peter Falk and Cassavetes himself. The collaboration of the two men culminated in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, with Gazzara taking the lead role of the hapless strip joint owner Cosmo Vitelli.

The film's original release, at 135 minutes in length, was a commercial disappointment and the movie was pulled from distribution after only seven days. Eventually, Cassavetes decided to re-edit the film, and it was re-released in 1978 in a new 108-minute cut. The 1978 version is the one that has been in general release since that time, though both versions of the film were issued in The Criterion Collection's John Cassavetes: Five Films box set, marking the first appearance of the 1976 version since its original release.

True to Cassavetes' form, the 108-minute version is not just a simple edit of the 135-minute version. The order of several scenes have been changed, there are different edits of a few scenes, and there are a few segments that are unique to the 108-minute version. The bulk of the cutting in the 1978 version removed many of the nightclub routines that were in the 1976 version.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The film opens with Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara), making the final payment on a longstanding gambling debt to a sleazy loanshark type. To celebrate his long anticipated freedom, Vitelli has an expensive night out with his three favorite hookers. The evening culminates in a card game in which Vitelli loses thousands of dollars, effectively returning him to the debtors condition he has just left. Using the debt as leverage, his mob creditors coerce him into agreeing to perform a "hit" on a rival. Vitelli is led to believe that his target is a small time criminal of minor consequence; in fact, he is a major figure in the Chinese mafia. Vitelli, with difficulty, manages to kill the man (and several of his bodyguards), but is wounded severely.

In addition to the potentially fatal gunshot wound he sustains, Vitelli realizes that his mob employers are intent on his death (and in fact had no expectation that he would survive his assignment). Again forced into a corner, Vitelli manages to kill all of his assailants. The film ends without any positive indication as to whether Vitelli can or will survive his ordeal, although it seems to hint that he will not.

Trivia

• At one point in the late-90's a remake was in development which Brett Ratner was to helm. The project was scrapped however when Ratner dropped from it to direct Rush Hour.
• Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) listed it as his favorite mob film.
• Is considered a favorite film of directors Paul Thomas Anderson, Harmony Korine and Abel Ferrara.

External links

• The Killing of a Chinese Bookie at IMDb
• Criterion Collection essay by Phillip Lopate
• Blogcritics review of Criterion Collection DVD of film