Customer Reviews

Chinatown (Widescreen)

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The mid-1970s saw a spate of "government conspiracy" films, all with liberal themes that emanated from Watergate. None of them were about Kennedy stealing the 1960 election. Hmm.
"Chinatown" (1974) may be the best screenplay ever written. A historical look at 1930s Los Angeles, it actually condensed events from the 1900s with events that, uh, never happened but made for good drama. Written by L.A. native Robert Towne, directed by Roman Polanski, produced by Evans and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunnaway and famed director John Huston, it told the story of how Los Angeles became a metropolis. In Towne's version, Huston "owns" the L.A. Department of Water & Power with a character based on actual L.A. City engineer William Mulholland. Mulholland had orchestrated the political deal which built the aqueduct that brought water from the Owens Valley into the L.A. Basin, allowing millions of Southern Californians to keep their lawns green to this day.
The Mulholland character is "sacrificed" at the altar of greed, embodied by Huston, who secretly buys the San Fernando Valley, knowing that once the water deal is set, it will be incorporated into the city, making him a gazillionaire. It is rather cynical, although nobody suggests the L.A. "city fathers" were boy scouts. The same old theme is that capitalism and American political power are corrupt. To make sure the audience is convinced the corruption is beyond redemption, Huston is in the end found out be an insatiable, incestual monster. He plays the role so well it brings up minds-eye imagery of his real daughter, Angelica. The film is utterly beyond any criticism, regardless of political colorization. For decades, film students and screenwriters have studied it. It spawned an artistic quest to lace the screen with symbols, metaphors, backstory, and twists.
"Chinatown" seems to be the apex of the American film period, the mid-1970s. The period from 1960 to 1979 is unparalleled, but the backstory of the people who created these classics is a telling tale of why the genre leans to the Left. In the 1960s, film schools became popular. Four schools emerged, and have held their place as the place to learn the craft. In Los Angeles there was the USC School of Cinema-Television. Their first big alumnus was "Star Wars" director George Lucas. UCLA combined their film school with their drama program, so as to bring actors, writers, directors and producers together. Coppola went to UCLA along with a future rock star named Jim Morrison, who would form The Doors with another UCLA film alumnus, keyboardist Ray Manzarek.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

This is a really good film with fascinating atmosphere and great performances. I just regret it has taken me thirty years to get around to seeing it. In some respects it reminds me of more recent films such as L.A. Confidential and Hollywood, two films that also showed an underside to mid century California.

I highly recommend this!

this was my first viewing and i have to say the cinematography still is of a quality that i can recommend.

I re-watched this movie today for the first time in years and I have to say that it never gets old. Along with Taxi Driver and On the Waterfront, this is one of the only truly flawless films I can think of. The moody cinematography, the crisp and alive script and the acting are all first rate. I love Polanski's direction, never too flashy but still stylized enough for him to make his mark. Its also very economical, there isn't even a shot that is wasted. The high point has to be the acting, John Huston as the creepy old father is as revolting as he should be. Faye Dunaway in probably her best performance ever, you feel a lot of sympathy for her throughout but you never completely trust her. Jack Nicholson steals the movie though, as the wise*ss, well dressed, private investigator Jake Gittes. This is typical Nicholson in a way but before he became an over the top charicature of himself. He's as obvious as he has to be in some scenes but enjoy the subtlety of his performance. The bedroom scene with Dunaway is killer.
So yeah, great acting, directing, and an ending that will stay engraved in your brain for years. Definitely a top five movie.

Well,i never thought i'd say this,but,i have now seen 2 very good Roman
Polanski movies.(the other being the brilliant"The Ninth
Gate")anyway,Chinatown is a simple story of private eye Jake Gittes,who
stumbles into a murder mystery.Jack Nicholson plays Gittes,in a
brilliantly understated performance.Nicholson makes Gittes into a very
likable character.The film has a very unique and impressive visual
style.Polanski's direction is very tight and economical.everything fits
and each scene has relevance to the film.This is not an action
movie,but more of character study,and is also very dialogue driven.
What action there is,is low key and passive.this is no criticism of the
movie,at all.it is so well written that it cannot fail to hold your
interest,and as director,Polanski Tties everything up neatly.Faye
Dunaway also plays a prominent role in the movie,delivering a very good
performance.The only thing i didn't like was the ending.i don't mean to
say it was bad ending,i had just hoped it would have gone in a
different direction.the screenplay was written by Robert Towne, and
Polanski himself had a hand in the screenplay,but is not credited.The
screenplay is responsible for a great deal of the film's success,but
this is clearly a team effort.All in all,Chinatown is a well crafted
movie from all involved. 4.5/5

To all classic film lovers, and movie fans in general,this film has it all. An incredible screenplay brought out to perfection by an A list cast and an incredible(and controversial) director Roman Polanski. What else is there really to say? Forget it, It's Chinatown.

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.
The attention to detail from vintage cars, sets, real L.A. streets and alleys to the excellent score by Jerry Goldsmith and the golden cinematography of John A. Alonzo contribute to all the aspects of this classic of the post 60's film noir.
Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Mulwray is at the top of her game creating a neurotic exotic hothouse flower that carries death within the heart of her dark and dirty secret. Lacquered and veiled in the most perfect black widow getup of the genre she is superbly brittle and vulnerable at the same time. She is fascinating to watch as she slowly unravels along with the mystery until she is naked in the horror of what her past and present prison is. This is a great performance by a great artist.
As Evelyn's father Noah Cross, John Huston is the debauched cancerous center of evil and greed captured within the crumbling casing of a seemingly charming old man. He too gives the performance of a lifetime and his soliloquy on what a man is capable of is chilling.
The center of this masterwork is Jack Nicholson who became a star with this, the best of his early work. His J. J. Gittes is hardboiled and ruthless in getting to the bottom of why he is being used to take the fall for a murder. He embodies the soul of Bogart and the heart of a romantic fighting to stay tuff in a rotten world. He is drawn with such skill that he seems not to be acting but simply existing the real world of L.A. in the late 1930's.
"Chinatown" is seminal in its place in film history. It bridged and old and forgotten genre with a new Hollywood in its post studio infancy and laid the groundwork for later films of equal ambition such as "Mullholland Falls" and "L.A. Confidential".
This is one of the best film ever made and a must have for any serious film collector.

Not since Otto Preminger's LAURA had filmgoers the pleasure of watching a classic film noir, until Polanski's CHINATOWN. The plot and characters are complex but chillingly believeable. I can't find anything wrong with this film. It is well-paced for a fairly long movie. The lighting, cinematography, setting, costumes... everything is as should be. The performances by John Huston and Faye Dunaway are eerie and tragic, respectively. Then of course there's Nicholson. Mad Jack was already firmly established on the Hollywood map having already won acclaim for EASY RIDER, THE LAST DETAIL, and FIVE EASY PIECES. This film however fixed him permanently in the constellation of Hollywood stars. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST would soon follow. In any event, his portrayal of an aloof, world-weary gumshoe who stumbles in over his head into an intrigue involving crooked politicians and the money-slobbering wealthy still holds up 30 years later. This is an incredible film.

If it wasnt for Noah Cross, the San Fernando Valley would be farming areas versus what it is today, a large metropolitan area of L.A. "you can bring L.A. to the water" he says to Jake Gittes, and that is the centerpiece of "Chinatown" starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Roman Polanski. Probably the last great film noir movie in my opinion, its also a faboulous mystery and detective story. The film takes place in 1930s L.A. where water is a premium and a drought is taken its toll on the city. Private-eye J.J. Gittes, a matrimonial gumshoe is hired by the wife of the head of water and power to see if he is having an affair. All is not how it seems and Gittes is thrown into one big political mess filled with lies, scandal, a murder and incest. This film is a timely classic that will leave you wanting to see it over and over again.

The final last words off a legendary film. Before self-bannishment, Roman Polanski developed this classic who done it. Jack Nicholson continued to give one great performance after another during the early 70's with this one setting the stage for an Academy Award the next year. Another great performance was John Huston as the sinister father. This is one movie I could continue to watch over and over and over. It's great filmaking!