"Chinatown" is simple but elegant, a noir for the 70s

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2008)

The best crime films of all time continue to prove that they're not about the action and the plot twists. While "Chinatown" certainly keeps you guessing, it's the style of the film and the acting that make it so good. You don't watch "Chinatown" when you're in the mood for a good thriller--you watch it when you want to see fine film-making.
"Chinatown" is about a private investigator named J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) who is hired by Evelyn Mulwray, the wife of the man in charge of Los Angeles' water supply, to find out who her husband is having an affair with. When her husband turns up dead and the woman Gittes thought was Mulwray was actually someone else, Gittes and the real Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) begin an investigation and a relationship in the process of discovering the truth. Gittes eventually finds himself in a bit of trouble as he tries to figure it all out, including receiving a slashed nose (a character played by director Roman Polanski)
It is only fitting that the character who scars Gittes is played by Polanski himself. He leaves a mark on Gittes that we see for the rest of the film, that is symbolic of his own marks on the film as a director. First of all, Polanski is at his prime with this film. His semi-first person camera angles and pans seem to really suit the film well. While he had a ton of help from screenwriter Robert Towne (who won the only Oscar the film received), the characters' subtleties are by far their most interesting and important features.
Nicholson and Dunaway do some great noir acting. Nicholson is a clever, foul-mouthed, lovably dislikable protagonist and Dunaway succeeds at portraying the fact that her character appears to be hiding something from Gittes in nearly every scene. Both were worthy of their Oscar nominations. The film doesn't work without them both being very interesting characters to watch.
As with any mystery that's really not so much about the mystery and more about subtleties, "Chinatown" warrants a second viewing. You need to be able to spend more time paying attention to Nicholson's references to his life in Chinatown, for example, and spend less time trying to make sense of the plot. The plot is certainly interesting and the ending really delivers what you've been waiting for in a film where people are getting mixed up in things they shouldn't be. "Chinatown" is undoubtedly a classic, even if it lacks the attractive swagger that films like "The Godfather Pt. II" (which beat it out for the Oscar) have.