The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

John Cassavetes has his qualities, there is no doubt about that, but this is a film that didn't particularly entertain me. There are just too many close-ups and scenes that seem to say nothing at all. I simply found myself bored with this film, and even the definitely high-quality performances, with which the film was endowed, didn't salvage it. (20/10/2015)

It is misleading to primarily consider this a gangster movie. It is primarily - as many have already noticed - another one of Cassavetes' studies of desperation and the emptiness of life, as he depicted in Faces and A Woman Under the Influence (the desperation of the middle class), Opening Night (the desperation of artists), or in this film (the desperation of people of ill repute). In a detailed (not only camera) analysis of the main character, we observe the slow deterioration of his self-assurance stemming from the belief that the role he plays in front of others and himself brings him satisfaction. We witness the disgusting moment that follows shortly after we realize that our own carpe diem is not forced upon us by someone else, but by ourselves, and the height of embarrassment is that even then, we do not want to let go of our previous life, but we are willing to stoop even lower to preserve it. (In order to save my second-rate strip club, I will kill a stranger so I can wallow in even greater filth in my strip club.) This entire dilemma is embodied in the scandalous shows: Cosmo takes pride in being their creator and constantly tries to keep them running, and tries to refine their "quality," even when he is planning to kill someone (in the phone booth scene). All of this to not fully admit to himself what he has already admitted deep within, to avoid looking himself in the face because there is nothing of his own there - there is only what others want to see in us, and our only fulfillment in life is that we can merge with this false image of ourselves. Therefore, the show of Mr. Sophistication and Co. will continue to go on and on, even if its awkwardness and forced nature reach rock bottom, which it will never reach because they will constantly keep pushing it further and further. (21/01/2015)