Enter the Chinatown!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2008)

This is Roman Polanski at his best. I had seen Roman Polanski's The Pianist before I watched Chinatown. I won't bother attempting to summarize this masterpiece. It would be an exercise in futility and would only detract from the genius of the film. Suffice it to say, the plot is complicated and watching this intricate and deadly web unfold is a source of joy that bears many repeated viewings.
This is the film credited with creating the mythic figure that we know as Jack Nicholson. His portrayal of a private detective caught in a conspiracy much greater than he can handle is the maypole that the other characters, both naughty and nice, skip around. His charm and his vulnerability keep the viewer interested in the increasingly complex course of events.
And the other characters, while not as prominent, are searingly memorable. John Huston's turn as a man wealthy enough to have a different set of laws apply is frighteningly understated with his power. Faye Dunaway manically switches from serenely confident to skittishly fragile as each layer of protective secrets is peeled away.
You need to watch CHinatown many times. Many subtle plot points won't be caught on a single viewing. Also the hypnotic pace that is maintained is all the more powerful when you already know what is going to happen. After repeated viewings the ending in particular seems painfully inevitable and as a result all the more tragic. The cynicism of the climax is not terribly surprising when you come to know that Polanski's wife was brutally murdered by some gang several years earlier.
Not long after the success of Chinatown, Roman Polanski fled to Europe avoiding a conviction for consensual sex with a thirteen year old girl. Chinatown is likely to remain the pinnacle of his work and a watershed in American cinema.