Gamblers - Giochi malvagi

Really interesting mix of nationalities in this film. Pascal Elbé seems to be the french guy, still in love with his chinese ex-girlfriend LuAnn (Linh Dan Pham). But it's not that easy... he hustles as a card shark on the streets with buddy Toros. and they keep running into trouble with their bosses at the OTHER job, the cloth merchant, run by an armenian family. and to complicate things even more, LuAnn's brother Yuen is becoming a delinquent; he won't work, he won't make any effort to pay back the coyotes that brought him to France, and he keeps starting fights with everyone. Vahé (Elbé) wants to help LuAnn's brother, but the brother doesn't want his help, and is on a spiral downard. When they run afoul of the coyotes, it all starts to fall apart. there's some violence, so this isn't for the kiddies. Also some confusion on my part -- the brother is played by Teng Fei Xiang, who (as of today) is referred to as an "actress" on imdb. Is the actress transgender, or was the role simply played by an actress at the time? or is the entry just wrong on imdb? anyhoo. This one is well done. good acting, good editing. Currently showing on Fandor channel. Written and directed by Frédéric Balekdjian. Here, it seems to be called "Gamblers", but on Fandor its Les Mauvais Joueurs.