Review of Chinatown (1974) by Tony P — 28 Jan 2017

What a gem from 1974. A film I had never heard of apart from its listing in Steven Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway it was made in the pre-blockbuster era and really shows the brilliance of the director rather than a few gimmicky CGI effects and laser beams!

The film noir genre is epitomised by films from the forties shot in black and white and sort of detective thrillers.

Here we have a Technicolor film from 1974 revisiting the genre.

The performance of Nicholson as private detective Jake Gittes is mesmerising and up there with his other great roles.

Gittes is an ex-policeman who worked in the Chinatown district of Los Angeles.

Now a private detective in 1930s LA. He becomes embroiled in the private life of the chief engineer of LA's water and power department.

Hired by his so called wife at the films beginning he later discovers it wasn't actually who she claimed.

Investigating further what turns out to be so called adultery actually becomes a murder, greed and intimidation case involving the local water supply!

The story could actually have been a screenplay for an episode of Murder, She Wrote but the performances of the cast and ultimately its direction by Polanski are wonderful to watch.

It's the camera angles, the screenplay, photography that all come to the fore.

No doubt you will never have heard of it but I would highly recommended it over the modern multiplex trash.