Review of Chinatown (1974) by David W — 06 Feb 2012

Set in a time when Jack Nicholson knew how to play the (almost) good guy -- 1940s Los Angeles -- cynical private eye JJ Gittes unwittingly gets caught in the middle of an investigation of the murder of the city's Chief Engineer of the water and power company (in the middle of a drought no less) and is left to question whether the victim's wife (Faye Dunaway) did the deed and to ponder the involvement of Mrs.

Mulwray's father (John Huston). This film was partly responsible for the revival of the film noir, which owes credit at least partly to director Roman Polanski, who effectively maintains an ominous vibe from the first take to the last scene.

The film works on multiple levels: unlike some other successful films of the era (i.e., The French Connection) Chinatown does not experiment with action and at times almost comically lacks that kind of style.

It is a detective film in the mold of the movies from the era in which the movie was based and could pass for one with the exception of a few curse words. And the performances from each character also hold up, framed perfectly by director Polanski, who craftily focuses the camera not at the face of the actor who speaks but at the actor who reacts to the actor who is speaking.

As far as movie-going experiences go, this is one that does not work for groups and is better appreciated when you can observe the film as deliberately as it was made. For both its style, its ensemble cast, and the ambitiousness of the screenplay as well as the genre itself, this is the film that comes closest to perfect presentation and will live on past the dark days of 1970s cinema.

This is one of those movies in which if anything were changed it would not be half as good as it is now. For this reason, it is startling to know that the film almost had a completely different, more involved musical score, which would have absolutely tarnished the atmosphere that Roman Polanski preserves throughout.