Chinatown (1974)

Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley Amazon.com essential video

Imperfect film noir never gets near the real Chinatown...

It's surprising that for all the slavish attention to period detail that Roman Polanski puts into CHINATOWN, he lets down the audience in the finale which is supposed to take place in the actual Chinatown at night. Instead, it looks (as the original review in The New York Times pointed out), more like Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn with a few neon signs flickering in the background for Oriental flavor, filmed on an artificial, improvised set. It's a letdown when the film's most crucial moments aren't given the careful period flavor that goes into the majority of the piece. It's also unworthy of the film's final line: "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

Robert Towne's screenplay owes a great deal to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, both expert writers of crime detective fiction full of sardonic humor and double entendre remarks, usually delivered in deadpan manner by whomever was playing the male detective. He uses "Chinatown" as a metaphor for a puzzle nobody can solve, sort of the way Thomas Mitchell summed up a mystery by saying "makes as much sense as Chinese music" in "The Dark Mirror".

In both CHINATOWN and THE MALTESE FALCON, a private eye gets involved in a messy case involving murder and other assorted mayhem, drawn into the case by a cool femme fatale who knows more than she's saying, and a cast of mostly unsavory characters living in the fringes of L.A.'s Chinatown area where crime in the 1930s is rampant.

In this case, the cynical, hard-nosed detective is played to perfection by JACK NICHOLSON in the kind of role he excelled in, justly winning a Best Actor nomination. And likewise, the inscrutable dame is played by FAYE DUNAWAY in the sort of part Mary Astor essayed in "The Maltese Falcon". Instead of Sydney Greenstreet, we get JOHN HUSTON in the role of her megalomaniac, corrupt father. And keeping all of this fascinating material well in hand is Roman Polanski, himself a player in the film as the hood who slashes Nicholson's nose.

It's gritty, authentic looking (except for the above-mentioned flaw) and captures the mood of the story with its Los Angeles backgrounds and detailed attention to '30s styles. Visually, it's a masterpiece--and while the story gets a little slow once in awhile in uncovering a convoluted plot involving land rights and water control, it leads to a highly suspenseful ending.

A stylish thriller, well worth watching, especially if you love film noir. But somehow, Bogie's image hovers over most of the dialog and it falls far short of being called a "masterpiece" as many have done here. A more concise, compact telling of the tale would have made that description more apt instead of this long, rambling story with its engineering background and slow revelations.

Note: The widescreen DVD features a couple of insightful commentaries by the creators of "Chinatown" (Roman Polanski, Robert Towne, Bob Evans), as well as Jack Nicholson, but it's advisable to watch after seeing the film because a lot of the plot twists are given away.




June 30, 2008

What A Classic Film, Despite Studio Treatment

Chinatown is a film that you have to see. No amount of explanation will do you justice. The screenplay is the true backbone of this film; and it reflects just how vital and "make or break you" a script is to a film project. The cast was already great, and the screenplay allowed them to soar with their characters. There is so much depth to these folks as people, troubled people, that by the end your head is just spinning 'Oh my god, just how dark and troubled can people get?' One reviewer said this film is a classic example of a greek tragedy, and I agree.

So if Chinatown is such a classic film, and I'm gushing all over it - why the 4-Stars? Simple answer - Paramount:-(

The studios home video department has made vast improvements in the last 4 or 5 years, but they still haven't wrestled the extras and all the other bells and whistles that come along with other superior studio releases. This DVD release is just not THAT special. I double-dipped and shouldn't have bothered. My 99' version would have been just fine to settle with. The extra documentaries (not that long, each maybe 20-25 minutes) aren't anything to jump up and shout about. They bounce off the surface leaving you wanting more information.

So, if you have the original DVD release, don't bother upgrading. Wait and see what Blue-Ray has to offer. June 17, 2008

I used to live alone, but after this order I turned into a Don Juan and found true love.

One of the greatest crime dramas ever filmed. the twists and turns are great and the whole movie keeps you guessing. The best modern equivalent is LA Confidentials. Check it out! June 17, 2008

Chinatown

Great movie. Good dialogue and intricate plot. Sometimes had to rewind because I didn't catch everything. You have to pay attention. June 12, 2008

The return of Film Noir in a great dvd edition

If you love film noir of the 40s and thought that genre was dead in the 50s and 60s

Experience the return of the genre in this great movie

And a great dvd price value by the way.

I totally recommend it. May 24, 2008

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