one of my favorite

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2002)

What happened to your nose Gittes? Somebody slam a bedroom window on it?
Gittes: Nope,your wife got excited.She crossed her legs a little to quick. You understand what a mean pal?-

Jake Gittes(Jack Nicholson in a memorable role) is a private detective in the late 30s This hero is a loner,righteous and witty,nothing seem to surprise him anymore but he is also a moralist who suffers in a perverse world. In one scene Gittes must defend his profession to another man saying that his job is honest and he's helping desperate people(Gittes specializes in investigations involving divorces and extra-marital affairs).
The plot in Chinatown is complex,with sub-plots(the water scandal;a mysterious murder;a powerful old man and his daughter). Evelyn Mulwray(Faye Dunaway) appears and the mystery begins,Gittes is so intrigue and obsess by her that he needs to find out the true, is she a manipulator or a victim? She acts with ambiguity ;why is she so scared Of her father?.
One of the must powerful scene is when Evelyn tell the truth to Gittes she confessed the identity of the young girl:'she is my sister and my daughter! my father and I,'. The real plot in Chinatown is corruption in every aspects; is about the burden of a woman and her horrible secret.
The true villain,Noah Cross(a superb John Huston)is a deceiver,perverse, powerful and even charismatic(hey!,Hitler was too)he is the epitome of evil.
Chinatown has one of the must uncomfortable and unfair ending in cinema history,but in this case this ending was necessary and realistic(bad things happen to good people). Sometimes `the good' lost and evil cannot be eradicated; -'forget it Jake it's Chinatown'! - and it could has been anywhere anyplaceSad Sad Sad.