A beautifully made mystery

Rating: 9/10 (12 August 2002)

"Chinatown" is a very well-made film about two interrelated scandals in 1930s Los Angeles. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway play J.J. Gittes and Evelyn Mulwray, a detective and a woman who hires him. She hires him to find out how and why her husband, Chief Water & Power Engineer Hollis Mulwray, was killed. The things that Gittes must go through in order to find the truth of the matter will have you frightened and spellbound, perhaps just as much as the character was.
The filmmaking here is quite beautiful. Panoramic views of Los Angeles mixed in with intimate moments inside colorful houses and buildings make for diverse visuals. The costumes portray the period with brilliant accuracy. The acting is quite believable, and the characters are very similar to those you would find in a Chandler or Hammett novel (i.e. The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity). Don't be fooled by that though, in this film, nothing is as it seems. This is one of those movies that stays with you after you see it. You'll have great debates with your friends about the ending, and you'll want to see it again.