The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

“Years ago, Martin Scorsese and I were talking and in one night made up this gangster story about this nightclub owner who owes a lot of money and is talked into killing someone who isn’t really the person he thinks he’s going to be killing.” Thus describes John Cassavetes the origins of this film, with which the Karlovy Vary film festival continues its ongoing Cassavetes master class. Ben Gazzara shines as the charismatic owner of a strip club in this dark character study passing itself off as a neo-noir crime drama. With his melancholic glimpse into the male psyche, Cassavetes created a metaphor likening the captains of Hollywood (whom he detested) to gangsters.