The Killing of a Chinese Bookie1976
Paired by the Criterion Channel, both on Top 10 lists by Aki Kaurismäki, Alex Ross Perry and 7 others, both directed by John Cassavetes, and both starring Ben Gazzara
- Criterion Collection
- Spine №255
- Connections
- View Connections
Synopsis
While in the midst of rehearsals for her latest play, Broadway actor Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) witnesses the accidental death of an adoring young fan, after which she begins to confront the chaos of her own life. Headlined by a virtuoso performance by Rowlands, John Cassavetes’s OPENING NIGHT lays bare the drama of a performer who, at great personal cost, makes a part her own, and it functions as a metaphor for the director’s singular, wrenched-from-the-heart creative method.
