Review of Chinatown (1974) by Matt P — 01 Apr 2011

Take the elements of a typical film-noir movie like political corruption, police brutality and great steady-cam shots and you've got Chinatown: a brutal and powerful motion picture by Roman Polanski.

This film drives itself to the very limits and goes past that in terms of story and sequence. The story was gripping and emotional, and the acting made it all the more enjoyable. Faye Dunaway delivers a great emotional performance as a troubled woman seeking justice by any means necessary.

While Jack Nicholson's performance was rather underdeveloped, I still could sort of infer how his character must have been feeling at times, and you can definitely see in his eyes all throughout. The angles this movie got wee spectacular-on one seen Jack Nicholson's automobile remains stationary as we focus entirely on his rear-view mirror as it tracks the reversed image of a man walking away.

What made this shot so incredible was the situation in which it was portraying. It merely MADE the stalking sequence a lot more dramatic. At times this movie could be very quiet and slow, but not before piping up really fast to make you jump and catch you off guard.

But the best part of this movie, probably what made it so enjoyable was the score by Jerry Goldsmith. It's just nice to watch great actors work their magic on a great set, wearing great costumes, directed by a great director, while a nice smooth jazz tune starts up.

The score was impeccable and flawless it's one of the best I've heard that's matched the movie so well.