Hardboiled crime, just the way I like it

Rating: 7/10 (1 March 2014)

CHINATOWN is a 1940s-era film noir updated to the 1970s, with added sex and violence to appease audiences. The ever-excellent Jack Nicholson adopts the role of J. J. Gittes, a man who finds himself investigating a conspiracy surrounding Los Angeles's water supply, no less.
In the hands of auteur Roman Polanski, CHINATOWN is a great movie. Although it's slow moving for the most part, it's also ultra stylish and the director keeps your attention throughout. There are also nice performances from the whole cast, not least Faye Dunaway's alluring femme fatale and John Huston as the elderly patriarch.
Despite its laidback appeal, CHINATOWN contains some shocking material, most of which seems quite tame these days but which must have packed a punch when it first came out; I'm thinking the final twist in particular. Nevertheless, bolstered by strong performances and good direction, this is a minor classic of its genre.