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| Chinatown
Year: 1974
Classification: Drama
Actors/Actresses:
- Faye Dunaway
- Jack Nicholson
- John Huston
Classic Film Noir
Ah, the good ol' days of the 1930s. Gritty private eyes, rich socialites, political corruption. All of these long forgotten qualities are showcased in Roman Polanski's Chinatown, the 1970s film noir detective classic about J.J. Gittes' journey through the tangled web of a Los Angeles mystery. Jack Nicholson provides yet another timeless role as the hard-boiled Gittes, whose investigation of an illeged affair leads to a road of corruption, power, incest, and money. Faye Dunaway is also brilliant as the tortured Evelyn Mulray, who lives in her father's dark shadow and hides an incredible secret that brings down her world.
Every aspect of this movie resulted in flawless filmaking, from the shady cinamatography to the changes of scenery in and around Southern California. Polanski creates a multitude of sleazy characters, all of whom hide dark flaws, even Gittes. In Gittes' world, no man (or woman) can escape from the city's corruption; this is Polanski's ultimate goal, to show the flaws in his characters. Polanski himself even makes a cameo appearance, as a knife-wielding hoodlum who gives Gittes alot of pain, literally. But the most interesting character, besides Gittes, is John Huston's Noah Cross, the rich water boss who is seemingly capable of any crime. His dense character begs the viewer to ask, "What drives this guy to be evil?"
Chinatown is a classic, the kind of movie that comes along every 20 years and causes multiple rentals and becomes a staple of any movie buff's collection. Nicholson, Dunaway and Houston all give memorable performances, perhaps the best of their careers, and Polanski pieces the story together into a mystery/drama/noir, which never gets boring. Every movie fan should be forced to watch this movie and exclaim, "What ever happened to making good movies?" Well, they don't make movies like they used to.
This is the Best Movie Ever Made
This movie has to be seen again and again to be fully appreciated. But if you think of Raymond Chandler novels, the classic film "Double Indemnity," Greek tragedy, and a haunting musical score, you are conjuring up some of the elements of "Chinatown."
Jack Nicholson is superb as private detective Jake Gittes. While Nicholson is so great an actor that, like Bogart, he seems to be playing himself in every role, this part was made for him. From his first line, about venetian blinds, to the end of the film, Nicholson conveys the portrait of a man caught up in a larger, incomprehensible web of amorality andmystery that is the essence of film noir.
Faye Dunaway is excellent in her role as Evelyn Mulwray, of whom to give a description would be to spoil part of the plot. Her gestures and lines are acting at its finest.
John Huston is a towering figure of evil in this film; and the dialogue between him and Nicholson, filmed at the time when Jack was beginning his long relationship with Huston's daughter (and fine actress in her own right) Angelica, is a masterpiece and fraught with double entendre.
I could go on and on. But suffice it to say that this is a movie worth purchasing and watching again and again. It will not cheer you up; but it may make you wiser.
A Master Screenplay, A Perfect Film
Many writers consider Robert Towne's screenplay for 'Chinatown' as the perfect screenplay. It is, and is also in fact the example of how important good writing is in the art of cinema. It is perfection and in the hands of Roman Polanski it became a film masterpiece. But it all goes back to the writing. Robert Towne has taken the true story of how Los Angeles stole water to grow and wound around it the fictional story of Jake Gittes, Evelyn Mulwray, and Noah Cross and made them major participants in an ugly little tale of lust and greed. Towne's screenplay is layered like a decaying Dahlia with twisting mysteries and taught suspense. There is not a loose end in sight and a few well placed red herrings are added to the mix to delight any fan of this type of story. BR> The attention to detail from vintag
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Buy Chinatown at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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