#johncassavettes

After a trio of very personal, critically acclaimed independent films, John Cassavettes attempted to acquiesce to the popular sway with a deceptive passion project in the form of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.  While being a memorable and entertaining film, it was also one that became the bane of Cassavettes' personal and creative experience, resulting in a pair of releases years apart from one another that reflect the independent vision versus the influence of the money men.  The film has always fascinated me as much as it has entertained me, and after a recent revisit, I felt the need to share my thoughts on it, as Cassavettes inspires me heavily.   

Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) is the owner of Crazy Horse West, a strip club located on the famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.  Cosmo not only runs the business aspects of the club, but he is hands on in nearly all aspects of the operation, including designing and choreography of the dancers’ performances.  As a self-proclaimed man of ‘style’, Cosmo longs for a chance to run a clean business where his art is appreciated at something more than a carnal level.  After paying off a gambling debt to local loan shark Marty (Al Ruban), Cosmo meets Mort (Seymour Cassel), a gangster who runs a gambling hall with is associates.  Cosmo talks himself into an invite, and after picking up three of his dancers, he visits Mort’s establishment, where he promptly racks up another sizeable debt to the gangsters.  The following night, Mort brings his associates to Crazy Horse West and make a power move : hand over the Crazy Horse West, or kill a heavily-guarded bookie named Harold Ling (Soto Joe Hugh), who turns out to be Benny Wu, a formidable leader in the Chinese gambling world.  With the biggest decision of his life in front of him, and pressure coming from Mort and his associates, Cosmo must put his integrity and morals to the test, once and for all.

Having a character like Cosmo (who longs in the deepest recesses of his heart to be an accomplished artist respected for his ‘style’) wishboned between the worlds of cabaret workers and gangsters makes for an interesting perspective on standard elements of vice and danger.  Cosmo is very human in the sense that, although his intentions are lofty and dignified, his actions are often ham-handed, ill-thought out and poorly executed, save for when his life is on the line.  It’s actually these moments when Cosmo’s back is against the wall that he actually lives up to the character qualities he aspires for, as if normal life or standard level inspiration gives him an excuse to phone in his actions.  Ultimately, Cosmo is the true antagonist to his role as protagonist, as the majority of his issues have a straight line of responsibility connected to them that one can trace right back to Cosmo himself.

Outside of its neo-noir narrative, the film plays as a metaphor for John Cassavettes’ views on, and experiences in, Hollywood and the film industry.  Crazy Horse West symbolizes Cassavettes and his company of actors, with each of their performances representing the work they release independently and outside of the system.  Mort and the gangsters represent outside monetary and production influences, dead set on exerting their power and will come hell or high water.  All of the narrative tension and conflict in the film are allegories for the endless problems and stress that come with the labor of love that is filmmaking.  The lengths that Cosmo goes through to protect Crazy Horse West and those connected, even at a detriment to himself, represent the insane amounts (and levels) of choices and hurdles often placed at the feet of a director during a production, be it independent or otherwise.  Even Cosmo’s brief trist that betrays the trust of Rachel directly after his gambling pitfall symbolizes the unhealthy way that creatives sometimes attempt to use work as a way to avoid their real stress, pain and problems.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, in my opinion, serves as the first major jump in the Cassavettes independent canon in terms of production level... as much as I love Shadows, Faces and A Woman Under the Influence, this film is the first one to resemble its peers.  This aesthetic, however, does not take away from the Cassavettes technique, as the lighting still has an edge to it, and the camera is much more introspective in its observation as opposed to the standard Hollywood style of framing.  The patience that Cassavettes allows his tension-filled moments, be it the original or the truncated cut, holds well on the screen, and gives the audience a true interpretation of what Cosmo is going through mentally.  For such a simple narrative, it’s impressive how much of a character study that Cassavettes was able to shape out of the project.

Ben Gazzara holds the weight of the film surprisingly well, managing to look both oafish and classy with an almost effortless manner of swinging between the two states.  This plays well against Seymour Cassel’s sharp, slick manner, as if he is always angling, and Cosmo just happens to be the sucker born at that particular minute.  Meade Roberts and his wonderfully dismissive attitude pop as Mr. Sophistication, with his closing moments between a wonderfully punctuating button to end the ride that is The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.  Timothy Carey, Robert Phillips and Morgan Woodard are wonderfully intimidating, tiptoeing the line between caricature and tough guy.  Azizi Johari, Virginia Carrington, Alice Friedland, Donna Marie Gordon and Carol Warden bring charm and personality to their roles as staff of Crazy Horse West, especially when a few of them are given a chance to double-down on the personality aspect once allowed into the bigger world by the Cosmo character.  Appearances by Haji, Derna Wong Davis, Kathalania Veniero, Val Avery, John Finnegan and a very sobering moment by Soto Joe Hugh round out the cast.