Chinatown (1974)

“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” Those are the infamous words spoken at the end of Chinatown, and probably the most well known line from the film. Yet, it carries such a weight that explains everything that has come before and still remains entirely elusive. Everything’s changed, yet nothing is really different at all. Not matter how hard he tried, how much he learned, Jake Gittes is powerless to what happens, but it’s his fault at the same time. It’s quite possibly one of the saddest, most devastating endings in all of cinema, made all the more heartbreaking that despite his best efforts, Jake won’t forget what happens in Chinatown.

To call Chinatown a perfect film isn’t that far from the truth. It fits squarely in the neo-noir genre, but it ever so subtly takes those noir conventions and turns them into something much deeper than most hard-boiled detective stories of the past. Detective Jake “J.J.” Gittes, as played by Jack Nicholson, at first seems like the stereotypical film detective from ‘40s noir—detached, business-minded, sharp-witted. But we soon learn that he empathizes much greater with the plight of some of his clients than the detectives you may find in a Raymond Chandler novel. The plot is downright labyrinthine at times, but it never buckles under the weight of its own ambition. The plotting never panders to the audience, however, so while everything is laid out in the plot, it’s a film that requires careful viewing. It’s made all the more interesting that the detective in this noir story is not on the hunt for gold or jewels, but rather is chasing a much larger, much more abstract—the corruption of the water department of Los Angeles. What begins innocently enough as a case to uncover an affair ends in real human tragedy for some of the characters.

While the production and filming of Chinatown has a very storied history, the effort created by the cast and crew is practically flawless. Director Roman Polanski was at the peak of his talents here, eclipsing even previous efforts such as Rosemary’s Baby. Robert Towne’s script is masterful in its ability to create a complex plot that deals with the idea of corruption at a macro level while never losing sight of the characters at the core. The cinematography by John A. Alonzo is also well worth noting, as the world of the noir is usually accented in black and white, with sharp shadows and negative space. Here, the rich yellow and orange hues of the desert and sun come alive over Los Angeles, creating an even more foreboding notion that evil and corruption doesn’t always hide in the shadows and can often times be found in plain sight. The acting is great, as Jack Nicholson gives one of his best performances, as he plays Gittes with a sense of restraint and a little defeatism; a nice guy who is just trying to make it in a world that is full of betrayal and corruption. His performance is key in holding the film together, especially since he appears in every single scene. Faye Dunaway, playing a variation of the femme fatale character in the film, gives an emotionally vulnerable performance while remaining mysterious through most of the film. Once her motives and secrets are revealed, it’s impossible not to sympathize with her plight. Director John Huston (who directed such classics as The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, so he probably knows a thing or two about film noir) gives an outstanding performance as the intimidating millionaire Noah Cross, a man whose charm and power have given him free reign over a city that he helped shape, but his crimes and intricate webs of deception take on a dark and disturbing undercurrent to the revelations found near the end of the film.

There is one scene in the film where Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) and Jake Gittes are lying in bed, and Mulwray asks about his life in Chinatown. He tells her that the entire area was corrupt, and he was told to do “as little as possible”, followed by a sign a resignation over his face as he explains that a woman that he was trying to protect only ended up getting hurt in the end. It’s a brief moment of true vulnerability for Gittes, which makes it all the more sad when this scenario is replayed exactly at the end of the film, complete with a confrontation in Chinatown. As he stands there in disbelief viewing the damage that has been done, he mutters to himself, “…as little as possible.” Gittes knows this cycle will never end for him, no matter how hard he tries to change the outcome. Best he just forget everything that happened, right? After all, it’s Chinatown.

Rating: 5 stars