Review of Chinatown (1974) by Jordan W — 04 Apr 2011

It has been a good 20 years since I have seen Chinatown, and since I had recently viewed another Polanski film, decided that this would be a good time for another view.

Since I already know the story inside and out, this viewing allowed me to concentrate on the texture and pacing of the film as well as some of the quirky bit characters along the way. Here we have a 70's film taking place in 30's LA that perfectly mimics the noir film style of that era, from the shadows and lighting that have an almost black and white feel, to its treatment of women and Asians. The climactic scene in which the big secret is finally revealed is almost laughable in an off-putting kind of way, and yet somehow Polanski walks the fine line making it a statement of the times (for those unaware, it involves a man slapping a woman).

I'm not going to reveal anything of the story, just mention that it is a mystery wrapped in another mystery, where the motivating factors are quite original and the topic revolutionary for its time (early 70's). Polanski simply follows Nicholson as he follows the clues in a case that lead him into a Byzantine maze of deception that only vaguely relates to the case he was hired for.

Nicholson is superb as the gumshoe detective Jake - a former LA cop who is running a moderately successful PI firm (specializing in recording infidelities). While working a case he runs across the wife of an important government official, wonderfully portrayed as a chilly, detached, somehow damaged doll by Faye Dunaway. John Huston aptly plays her father; a rich man of the kind of moral ambiguity that suits a man who can buy whatever he desires.

Along the way we encounter a stereotypical Chinaman gardener, all bows and broken English; the female denizens of an old folk's home; a quirky group of cowboy ranchers (in an odd, odd scene that I frankly thought served no purpose); Nicholson's hard boiled ex partner who is now a police lieutenant, and various cliché heavies, including Polanski himself as a knife wielding thug (amusing since Polanski's first film was called Knife In The Water).

The ending is very melodramatic, yet true to the noir 30's feel, so even though you may role your eyes at what you are viewing, complete with the tag line "forget it Jake, it's just Chinatown", you can appreciate the artistry - the way that last bit was filmed and how every thread of the plot comes together in a very disturbing way. As the crowd of Asians flock towards Dunaway's car like moths drawn to a flame, you get a hint of the underlying message of the script - we are all, in one way or another, uprooted, displaced aliens making our way in this hostile environment called life.