The German movie Chinesisches Roulette (1976) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Chinese Roulette. It was written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Although the cast has two important stars--Anna Karina and Margit Carstensen, acting honors are taken by Andrea Schober, as Carstensen's daughter. Schobar was only 12 when she played this role, but she certainly didn't act like an amateur. (She continued as a professional actor after this film.)
In a way, the movie is old fashioned. Eight people and a loaded pistol are in an isolated castle. The plot plays out from there. (There's a hint of an external threat to two of the characters, but Fassbinder doesn't follow up on it.)
The actual game of Chinese roulette is complex, and the rules were never clear to me. The game was played during the last quarter-hour of the film, and I found this tedious.
In fact, although Chinese Roulette has a solid IMDb rating of 7.3, I didn't enjoy it and don't recommend it. (It worked well enough on the small screen.) I rated it 6. I would have rated it lower, except for my respect for Anna Karina, who died in December 2019, almost exactly a year from when I'm writing this review.
P.S. I don't know if "Chinese Roulette" is a racist term. I hope not. However, there's no way to avoid it, because that's the name of the movie.
Although the cast has two important stars--Anna Karina and Margit Carstensen, acting honors are taken by Andrea Schober, as Carstensen's daughter. Schobar was only 12 when she played this role, but she certainly didn't act like an amateur. (She continued as a professional actor after this film.)
In a way, the movie is old fashioned. Eight people and a loaded pistol are in an isolated castle. The plot plays out from there. (There's a hint of an external threat to two of the characters, but Fassbinder doesn't follow up on it.)
The actual game of Chinese roulette is complex, and the rules were never clear to me. The game was played during the last quarter-hour of the film, and I found this tedious.
In fact, although Chinese Roulette has a solid IMDb rating of 7.3, I didn't enjoy it and don't recommend it. (It worked well enough on the small screen.) I rated it 6. I would have rated it lower, except for my respect for Anna Karina, who died in December 2019, almost exactly a year from when I'm writing this review.
P.S. I don't know if "Chinese Roulette" is a racist term. I hope not. However, there's no way to avoid it, because that's the name of the movie.