Killing of a Chinese Bookie is, from time to time, not easy to sit through. John Cassavetes had one of the harshest styles of any independent director in film history; his close-ups can be out of focus, wavering, mostly hand-held, and his DP probably had only enough lights depending on when Cassavetes could get the dough for them. But limitations that were put on Cassavetes, either by choice (which is arguable) or by cost, don't make the film feel compromised. If anything it adds to the idiosyncrasies and 'noir' quality of the script; it's a surprisingly well-directed film that Cassavetes has, but it's not simply this that leaves a lasting impression. 'Chinese Bookie' makes its impact because of mood, character, Ben Gazarra's performance, and an attention scene to scene where people are in the lowest common denominator (a strip club, a gangster's office or car, on the run). While Cassavetes has the themes that ran through the pulpiest stories and the most thrilling thrillers of the 40s and 50s, its still Casavetes through and through.<br /><br />Like many of the director's best work, too, the premise is there plain and simple, and it's always the context of the dialog, the connections the actors have, the time taken for a cut-away, that makes the big differences. Gazarra is Cosmo, a club owner who has his strippers doing their dances to a weird, sort of pathetic lounge singer, and he has just wiped his debts clean. Then he goes again and makes his debt rise by gambling once more, and taking out a loan from some mobsters. When they offer an option to wipe out the debt- kill a bookie in Chinatown causing problems for the competition- he's totally reluctant, but agrees on a bad threat. The consequences are not the simple 'scene-of-the-crime-cops-get-involved-good-triumphs' kind of deal, however.<br /><br />Surrounding this premise are scenes that verge on the meditative; a lot of times we see Cosmo looking on at his eccentric club, or with his 'girls', and Gazarra makes him a curious sort, a man who leads a crude, mismanaged life but is never vulgar, never even mean, and beneath his calm exterior following the murder (one of the most startling killing scenes I've ever seen, not just for the obvious other casualties) is a loneliness, almost a longing for something else. He should be just another shady character among the lot of them, but as he gets in deeper with the gangsters, and subverts his conscience (probably another strong theme here, as well as demeaning oneself because of people putting one down), the audience can suddenly have some sympathy for a man who should have none. Even when a moment could be dull or uninvolving, Gazarra makes us involved, without calling attention to his emotions in obvious ways. It's a career highlight if ever there was one.<br /><br />And Cassavetes continually films without a net and without a desire to do it "mainstream". I admired how Cosmo watched the girl audition for the club, but he never pans up- only showing legs walking back and forth- until she steps down. Or the nighttime scene with Cosmo or the gangsters in the car, about as dark and ominous as possible. And the way that Cassavetes opens and closes his film is most intriguing of all (if one is still watching by the end, as mentioned it might turn off some viewers expecting a more conventional narrative)- we see the singer, who has no self-confidence following night after night being booed while trying to have his own unique style in singing for the girls to dance to, and finally he just walks off after not being able to take any more (this is the last shot, following an ambiguous end for Cosmo, as his fate is left open to chance or damnation). There's almost a parallel that can be made not just to the singer and Cosmo (Comso being booed off or not successful, in a sense, from life in general), but to Cassavetes himself.<br /><br />It's strange and provocative, like a story taken for granted- of the gambler having to pay debts in an unforgiving underworld setting- given some fresh life and a sense of possibilities for what can be done in the genre. I can't wait to watch it again, perhaps even the 1976 version. Only note of warning: if it's your first time with Cassavetes start with something else like Faces or Woman Under the Influence. But if you want to take a risk, here's the riskiest picture of any genre from 1976.