Noir Transcending Noir: Chinatown Review

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2009)

The title of this review was inspired by a previous comment by Jason Berkley. I believe the phrase "noir transcending noir" is the perfect way to describe a film like this.
So rarely does a film come along like Chinatown. A seemingly mainstream, yet utterly cult-like tale of the mystical human psyche. Yes, of course, when you hear those words you immediately think of the Ridley Scott film Blade Runner. Both that and this film, to me, are very close in relation. They both are films of perfection, while Chinatown captures the pure essence of a very strange time, and in that you can only do so by caging the audience's ability to have open opinion. This film gives no room for anything of that manner. Chinatown catches something very humane that hasn't been perfected yet - the "robot" side of man. This film tells the story of real humans, and real men. A human isn't someone who is free, or truly happy with what they have, or what they'll be given - everyone is flawed, everything is flawed. Human's are robots - and robots are the true summation of what we describe as the human mind. It is said that us, as people, only use 10% of our true brain functions, abilities, and on and on. This is definitely true.
Examples of other films that "get" what I'm saying, are films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Magnolia, Full Metal Jacket, The Deer Hunter, The Shining, Sunset Blvd. and Apocalypse Now. They all pick apart the human anatomy in such a way that is completely mystical - unashamedly mystical. Instead of explaining what is going on around the characters, or why, we are instead tricked into thinking we've missed something very important, and complex - when, really, we are just seeing a very descriptive and almost horrifying declination into what is really happening in the story. Movies like those which I've listed, have always given me hope for as far back as I can remember. They give me hope in film, however, on the other end of the spectrum, they frighten my deeply. Cinematically, they are astonishing and masterful - however, they are a bit too perfect. Instead of making you feel good, bad, sad, suspended, etcetera, they make you feel alone and truly helpless... as if you're watching a tragedy unfold before you, which you are.
The human mind doesn't expand, it condenses, alienates. We cannot stop this, unless we spend our entire life living as a different person, with a different family, and different friends, everyday... and we remember this and are aware of it. The human mind raises itself based on it's environment - therefor, instead of taking advantage of it's surroundings, it attempts to avoid complication by hiding behind it's surroundings thus causing confusion, which (I believe) is to be the main point of films like Chinatown or any of th others that I've listed. Then, comes the ending... of course. This, next to the beginning, is the most skeptical and the most pivotal point in the film....
...the ending line or action is the one that defines the film and it's purpose. For example, Apocalypse Now: "the horror" / Sunset Blvd: "Okay, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup..." and on. This film's last words are so powerful, it seems like the entire film was revolving around those last 5 seconds - which it should. But truly, this film transcends it's own genre... in those last words, heard from the voice of Walsh, "Forget it Jake -- it's Chinatown."