i saw this recently after wanting to see it for ever. i regard the film as boring and a 2-hour examination of a fairly dull life. whilst i was growing up it was regarded as a classic, but having seen it, i cannot see why.
can anyone enlighten me?
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I had a hard time with this one too. I love faces and husband and woman. this one didn't strike me like the others. After watching the extras and reading the book in the criterion edition I can see more.
some say this movie is about a man who is completely controlled, a man who submits to whatever is asked of him. he thanks the gangsters after losing 23 thousand dollars, becuase he feels he has to. He shoots the "bookie" and his men, because he has to. he shoots the gangsters in the car park because he has to. now the question is why does he have to? he has to do these things in order to keep what he desires, the club, creating those horrible stage shows. he is an artist who debases himself for his art. and lousy art it is. but what horrible things do we do in order to keep our silly little status quos? i think cassavetes might be commenting on art, that there is no high or low art. there is just art. its all good according to taste.
I also discovered it was a play on the 70s anti hero. cosmo is in situations where he could have been a kick ass anti hero. for intance when he says thank you to the gangsters after losing 23 grand he could have said it in a f you tone or a sacasctic one. instead cosmos seems to be eating crow and trying to sincerely say thank you. this is a testement to gazzara, because to pull this off takes nuance. other scenes like the killing of the bookie are just pitiful. cosmo killing the bookie isn't an f you act. it is just sad. killing the gangsters at the end is the same way. think how different it would be if dirty harry played cosmo in this scene. i think cassavetes was playing against the anti hero genre and at the same time showing how an artist or any one is controlled.
I've only watched the longer version at this point and I'm wondering if it'll get better on second viewing. I'm not going to give up on this film. I see stuff that is important but it didnt jump out at me like husbands, faces or woman. all three of these were love at first sight.
TKoaCB is able to not fall into the typical action/crime film through its slower pacing, character development and music. It isn't your typical action film, but rather a look at crime in a unique light which neither makes itself into an anti-crime statement, nor a pro-crime statement. It, in a very unique way does something very different from any other film of its genre by simply being unconventional.
Last film seen: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie 9/10
Definitely a classic in my opinion. I'd be hard pressed to think of a movie I like more than this one.
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