the crime genre at it's very best

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2008)

Jack Nicholson (One flew over the cuckoo's nest) stars alongside Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde) in Roman Polanski's (The Pianist) compelling crime drama Chinatown where Jake Gittes is hired to investigate an affair, which ultimately leads into a political and deadly investigation surrounding the town's water supply.
With a gritty opening and a fascinating and dramatic climax, Chinatown has established itself as one of the best written crime dramas of the 70's and deserved Oscar winner for best writing original screenplay with excellent dialogue, no cheesy clichés or anything like that, a true realistic approach to the crime world, which is helped along by an excellent cast and brilliant direction.
One of my favourite Nicholson performances, he plays central protagonist detective Jake Gittes, a professional with an edge, a real cutting attitude to seek out what he wants.
Faye Dunaway is equally as impressive as Mrs Mulwray and these two characters with strong personalities and agendas create tense and engaging situations, justifying the genre beautifully.
It is one of the best directed films I have ever seen, perhaps only behind a couple which include The Good the bad and the ugly among others.
The settings are effective along with the situations and the lighting. Costume design and general cinematography are all effectively established to give the film the emotion and sophistication it needed.
Though I got lost at a couple of turns with the plot, there is still no question that the dialogue and the timing of the situations deserve its praise. Had it not been for the brilliant Godfather II then this film noir classic would surely have scooped a few more Oscars.