Elegantly expressed film noir

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2006)

Roman Polanski is one of those directors I just don't trust, much like Lars Von Trier. Controversial, reclusive, scary and you never know what kind of freaky surprise element they're about to present in one of their films. I realise this is not entirely fair but Polanski has just always freaked me out like hell--his attitude, his style. Well, Chinatown is his masterpiece and in spite of its initial controversy in the 1970s, I find it to be one of the 'safer' and more enjoyable films he has directed. This has a lot to do with the presence of Jack Nicholson who adds such a light-hearted, humorous tone to his performance, and it helps make Chinatown more colourful than the average film noir.
Nicholson is in fact wonderfully cocky--like James Bond without the campy one-liners--in a way that only he can be, and he brings this attitude to his character private detective Jake Gittes. He is hired by a woman claiming to be Mrs. Mulwray to spy on her husband, but there is a misunderstanding and suddenly the real Mrs Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) demands that Gittes drop the case immediately. Going against his better judgement, Gittes decides to pursue the investigation anyway and soon is on his way to unlock conspiracies, corruption and murders in the city of L.A.
Chinatown is film noir but it is sprinkled and enriched with colour and some truly spectacularly detailed set designs that capture the elegance of the 1940s America. The cast's performances also enrich the film, in particular Jack Nicholson. The only real flaw in the film is its occasionally extremely slow pace. Normally I wouldn't consider this a flaw, but in Chinatown it almost gets to the point when you stop being involved in the plot because it's moving so slowly. But if you ever get bored, you could always feast your eyes on the gorgeous backgrounds and style.
8/10