One of the very best...

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2000)

"Chinatown" is the sort of film which could only have been made in the early 1970s--after the veil of censorship was lifted, allowing filmmakers to explore the dark, gritty side of life and address controversial topics, but before the major studios completely lost their old-fashioned class and style. It is the link between the classic film-noir of the 1940s and the recent renaissance in the genre that has produced films like "L.A. Confidential". It's also a damn good movie... one of my all-time favorites.

Jack Nicholson is fantastic as Jake, the anti-hero gumshoe with a checkered past, who uncovers a dark conspiracy. Faye Dunaway also gives a solid performance in a very complex role, and John Huston plays a wonderfully malevolent villain. Director Roman Polanski brilliantly captures the atmosphere of 1930s LA, with its stark contrasts: sunshine and dark underworlds, personal freedom and powerful corrupt elites, beautiful people and ugly secrets. The plot twists and turns wildly but not implausibly. We follow Jake as he puts together a very complicated puzzle and runs afoul of the wrong people. The action builds in a crescendo to one of the most unexpected and memorable endings in cinematic history.
It's no coincidence that this movie came out in 1974, the year in which the long and sordid Watergate scandal brought down a corrupt and dangerous President. "Chinatown" reflects the mood of the times--the men in power are amoral and self-serving, the police are part of the problem, an individual has little chance against the system. Yet, with its setting in the fondly-remembered past, "Chinatown" clearly carries the message that the American Dream has always had an ugly side... the happy ending has always been a hollow lie. Both groundbreaking and timeless, this is one of the truly great films.