What to say?

Rating: 10/10 (4 May 2012)

Is there much to say about Chinatown that hasn't already been said? The screenplay is brilliant, the casting and performances are superlative. The art direction, costumes, style, and feel of the visuals are impeccable. The new blu ray release has a great commentary by Robert Towne and David Fincher, and if you're a fan of the film, this is a must. A few thoughts were provoked from this commentary. Firstly, it's interesting just how many times the camera is behind Jack Nicholson's shoulder, forming a not-quite-POV shot, and allowing the audience a voyeuristic entrance into many of the scenes and physical spaces. It's also intriguing how there are three levels of crime in the film; the major crime of the land grab and the rape of the valley; the personal crime committed by Noah Cross on his daughter; and a third level, which is in a sense a 'crime' committed by Jake Gittes. The Oedipus myth is much discussed when it comes to detective stories, and as Towne readily admits in the commentary, it plays a part in Chinatown. Gittes has tried to help a woman in his past and only ended up hurting her. Throughout Chinatown, he hunts for the solution to the mystery, hunts for the villain, confident in his ability to ultimately triumph. But this near hubris on his part will finally lead to the death of yet another woman he tried to help. If he had just stayed out of it, just tried to do as little as possible, then maybe she would have been saved. In a sense, the criminal he is looking for is ultimately revealed to be Jake himself... To work this level of complexity into a screenplay, and yet to make it unfold in such a way that everything is clearly understandable as you watch it, is true mastery of the art of screen writing and film-making.