Review of Chinatown (1974) by Kevin N — 29 Mar 2011

This is probably Polanski's most popular and most-seen picture, yet it may also be his most complex. The whole package just has so many layers to peel thanks to the trifecta of script, direction and acting, all three of which are extraordinary.

Towne's screenplay, which has now become the thing of legend, combines nostalgic classic noir tropes with the new spirit of violence and corrupt that the 1960s and 70s pushed in. Polanski, who supposedly had a lot to do with the script himself, takes the material and does more than translate it- he brings it to life and fills it with both indescribable pleasures and horrors.

He fills every inch of each frame with dense visual clues. The cast, of course, features two of the all-time greatest actors in their prime; Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway have an indescribable chemistry which is both attractive and repellent as the story progresses.

John Huston is also magnificent as the cold, evil Noah Cross, a one of the most humanly macabre villains in the history of U.S. film- he stood for a new kind of evil, one that the cinema would start to see more and more and one that touches very close to reality.