The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #48 extract: The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)



You're at the bottom of the pile. A social reject and a spectacle all at once. You want pride? You want dignity? You want comfort? Why? What do you think you're going to do with it? 
In a way that only Cassavetes can manage, this is simultaneously confusing and anxiety-inducing, and to a degree that is nearly unbearable. Feelings to cherish. With all drama on the constant brink of chaos, it's hard to know whether to cringe, scream or walk away. Sat before the screen staring, not really knowing how to react, so many embarrassing memories (too specific, mundane and embarrassing to detail) were drawn up from within me. These mapped onto the existentialist world of gangsters created by Cassavetes, and such speaks to the incredibly personal nature of the narrative. Like a mirror made of liquid, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is an embodiment of subjectivity that you fear you'll trip into and drown in as your reflection stares back at you.

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