Review of Chinatown (1974) by Rocknblues 8 — 08 Nov 2013

Pretty good noir tale of a small time detective that is over it's head in a land plagued by beaucracy and motives that Jake Gittes struggles to make sense of. No doubt there is plenty of twists and turns that will probably require more than one single watch. Unlike Jake, we suspect that a so normal case will probably turn out to not be so normal, but the more Jake snoops around he realizes that the trail of corruption and lies is far deeper than he could have guessed.

It's a great performance by Nicholson who was reaching his prime and this film is probably the one that put him on the map the most. His performance is more on point with an actual character... A sharp small time detective who isn't quite as smart as his confidence and one liners suggests. He gives a more subtle and cynical performance than usual, but that's on par for a detective that likely deals with liars and cons everyday.

Faye Dunaway was a real beauty. The kind of actress that you don't see anymore. An actress that has a lot of sexual appeal and awareness. A real screen presence. Here she is cold when she needs to keep her motives private, and emotional when the character calls for it. Like Jake, we're never sure what she is hiding. Is she that black widow that we have often seen in other movies? Or are there deeper reasons for deceiving Jake? What does she have to do with the water scandal? Is there more to it than that? We're never quite sure, and that's the point.

Some people point to the direction, or the soundtrack and the performances, but it's a combo of everything. It's a good script made believable and interesting by the performances. Faye has the best performance here in my mind. Without her performance I believe I would have lost interest in this because her character is more interesting than the water scandal it's self. I doubt I'm the only one to feel this way. It's a good film with a reputation as a classic.

Do I think it's a classic? I'll let re-watches decide that.