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Last updated: 08 Jun 2026 at 16:12 UTC

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Review of by Steven G — 15 Mar 2011

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As harrowing a picture as there ever was, Polanki's nihilistic vision of the world as seen through the eyes of a private detective [Nicholson] dig's deep as it lures you into what appears to be the confines of a traditional, albeit extensively sardonic take on a noir-style detective story.

The story is simple enough and all the more effective for it, Polanski notoriously made this film after the murder of his wife at the hands of the Manson family. While his outlook on life has never been exactly what one might call bright [he was a survivor of the holocaust and his mother was killed in Auschwitz], his approach has never quite reached this level of devastation.

The final scene in the film removes all sense of hope, stranding the viewer in an inescapable sense of despair... In the simplest of terms, this is one motion picture you may never forget.

This review of Chinatown (1974) was written by on 15 Mar 2011.

Chinatown has generally received very positive reviews.

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