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Killing Of A Chinese Bookie

post #1 of 15
12/7/06 at 4:48am
Thread Starter 
Today I had the opportunity to either watch this or Glengarry Glen Ross for the first time, and due to the fact that my college had a 90-minute theatrical cut and 120-minute re-release cut of Bookie I decided to opt for Mamet until I had more information. Generally rule of thumb is that longer cuts of films are better, as they imply the director had a fuller version of his cut closer to his original vision on the screen, but sometimes the original cut is the preferred one. Which cut of Killing Of A Chinese Bookie is the best one to watch?
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post #2 of 15
12/7/06 at 4:49am
You've never seen Glengarry Glen Ross before today?

For shame, brother.
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post #3 of 15
12/7/06 at 4:51am
Thread Starter 
Actually it seems I was wrong, IMDb says the original cut is the longer one (135-minute), and the re-release is only 108 minutes. Anyways, thoughts on the different versions?
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post #4 of 15
12/7/06 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
You've never seen Glengarry Glen Ross before today?

For shame, brother.
Trust me, I learned the error of my ways 30 seconds in. But cut me a little slack, I've got a Must Watch list that just crossed the 5,000 mark today. For every movie I see I add practically 10 more haha.
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post #5 of 15
12/7/06 at 9:57am
You should have watched the out-of-print Chinese Bookie and bought Glengary Glen Ross. You can get the latter for $6 on Amazon.
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post #6 of 15
12/7/06 at 10:11am
Opinions vary. The leading scholar of Cassavetes (Ray Carney) is livid that Gena Rowlands won't release his first version of Shadows (he apprently reshot most of the film, and that's what we see on video today). Recutting his films obsessively was not unusual for Cassavetes. The true value is in watching both versions to see what and why he re-edited. Like watching the Exorcist prequels, but with less sucking. If that seems a waste of time, if you're "just looking to be entertained", you probably won't enjoy either version.
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post #7 of 15
12/7/06 at 11:27am
The longer version of CHINESE BOOKIE is superior -- the characters have more room to breathe (especially Seymour Cassel's sleazy villain, barely in the 108-minute version) and there are so many interesting little moments that the story benefits from sprawl. The shorter version moves too quickly for my liking, particularly in the first act, but has some terrific alternate footage.

My advice to you would be to watch the original edit, then scan through the second version to get a sense of how it was re-edited and watch the alternate scenes. It'll take you about three hours.

This is how I generally experience the movie (one of my favorites). I do a similar thing with Fruit Chan's DUMPLINGS and the shorter edit in THREE...EXTREMES.
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post #8 of 15
12/7/06 at 12:43pm
Cassavetes recut the long version to make it more commercial after it became obvious that his ideal version wasn't going to be as successful as he hoped. He owned the film, so both cuts are his and both worth seeing. The longer version is superior, however. If you've never seen a Cassavetes film before, then watch the short version first. Cassavetes was such a unique filmmaker that diving into his work isn't that easy. At least for me it wasn't. Bookie is probably the best introduction, and again, the short version will be more ingratiating.
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post #9 of 15
12/7/06 at 1:06pm
For a real Cassavetes experience with the film, watch the longer cut. It's a tad tougher to get through, but is certainly better. Keep in mind that a lot of the running time is bad stripper routines, and as usual there's no great payoff to anything. It's just Cosmo's life on film for a few hours. God I love Cassavetes, though Bookie has the best title, it's not necessarily his best film.
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post #10 of 15
12/7/06 at 2:58pm
I think the most palatable to a newcomer is Minnie & Moskowitz. It's upbeat (eventually) and has a fair share of laugh out loud moments - the lunch date with Zelmo gets me every time. And Seymour Cassell is great.

As a 19 year old, the first viewing of Faces was more of a challenge, but the last time I saw it it just zipped by. It might be my favorite of his at this time.
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post #11 of 15
12/8/06 at 4:20am
Watch Glengary, forget the other one.
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post #12 of 15
12/8/06 at 4:22am
Wrong.
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post #13 of 15
12/8/06 at 1:27pm
Yeah, Zod - totally wrong.

Don't be daft.
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post #14 of 15
12/9/06 at 3:47am
Hey, the kid asked and I told him what to do. Not a fan of Cassavetes myself.
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post #15 of 15
12/10/06 at 2:08am
He said he'd already watched the Mamet. Reading is FUN-damental.
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