Chinatown Movie Review

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2011)

A long time favorite of mine and a classic that I believe Jack Nicholson can truly be remembered for as his greatest work of cinematic art. Director Roman Polanski and screen writer Robert Towne give audiences a masterpiece of both drama and suspense from the wondering viewpoint of Nicholson's character Gittes, a man who's profession is to find the truth, although the truth might be more than what he'd hoped to discover. Having a dark history in La's Chinatown, Gittie makes his honest living by exploiting the dark secrets few people want out. The secrets usually are born from either rumors or suspicions of affairs. A mysterious women claiming to be Hollis Mularay's wife, Evelyn hires Jake to scoop out the truth and find out if there really is someone else. Jake would've probably thought of old Hollis to be the most fascinating tail he's ever tracked in years, following him to public meetings, beaches, and even a mistress that finishes it all. Hollis is no ordinary guy, being the partner of Noah Cross (Houston), Evelyn's crafty and suspicious father, in the LA water and power department. It doesn't really matter to Jake, all that matters is his objective, and the sweet payday received for his work. His work results in more than just a simple check, but the consequences of widespread publicity, attracting the attention of the real, and truly more sophisticated Evelyn Mulray (Dunaway), who feels both insulted and obliged for the matter to be taken care of courtroom style. It's to Jakes luck and Evelyn's misfortune that he never sees the sight of judge, at the cost of Hollis's life though. The very sight of his body being dragged from a water reservoir, with salt water in his lungs is enough for the cops to call it an accidental death. Jake on the other hand, saw it as murder, believing the pieces in this puzzle all fit. The first piece started with the fake Evelyn looking to bust Mulray with a mysteriously significant mistress, thus reaching the second piece as the real Evelyn sues, then quickly draws back on the lawsuit, ending with the final piece of Mulray's murder. The plot escalates from secrets into answers stemming to the very dark and puzzled world Gittes use to live in. If non of you readers get what I'm talking about, I mean Chinatown, a place where the cops were meant to do as little as possible, never knowing whether they were helping the good or the bad. Chinatown, a place riddled with corruption, drugs, and dark aspiring mystery. Thus, Jakes suspicions place him on a quest to find the whole point of this elaborate plot to bury the truth, following up all kinds of leads that'll make viewers ask more and more questions on the very little, but defining significance they represent. Take for instance the missing mistress of Hollis Mulray. Why is it so important to Noah Cross that she be found? According to Evelyn and several people at Water and Power, Mulray and Cross had a falling out on where the water in LA should go. Either to the City or the People of LA. Many were suffering from the drought, particularly those in the south, raising live stock, with little water, and poisoned wells. It all seems detrimental. More though to the mystery of Hollis's murder, the truth behind it goes to the nature of secrecy that Plagues "Chinatown". A little bird (Fake Eveyln) sings a little, giving Jake a few names to look up, only to see their names as the already deceased, leaving him with the conclusion that Hollis knew to much. Jake himself puts himself in the same shoes, as he learns far more about his employer Evelyn than he should know. After a quick, but in the moment and straight to the bedroom romance with Evelyn, Jake's sense to spy leads to the discovery of Hollis's missing mistress, and forcing Evelyn to tell more than she's been saying half the film. Baring the child of your own father, while calling yourself her sister must no doubt be one of the toughest burdens ever, especially when it come to protecting that secret from a man who wants to have the child as his own. Noah Cross, the master mind behind all, reveals not only his place of being Katherine's father, but also the intention of incorporating LA's Northwest valley, and thus irrigating it. As we viewers draw to a close, the films ends in its title of focus, Chinatown. When struggling for the truth, Jake fails to save those he loves at the very remark of "Forget it Jake its Chinatown". A magnificent ending to film, that incorporates the elements of historical corruption, love, mystery, thrill, suspense, and furthermore the realistic notion of it's title "Chinatown". Chinatown, like general life is what it is, sometimes good triumphs over evil, and the other times, evil triumphs over good to our personal distaste. I honestly see this as one of Nicholson's most trademarked characters, using both his dark and even haunting history, as well as his slick wit to further move himself forward in the films mystery of a story, while collaborating with Dunaway's portrayal of an even more tortured figure. Mulray has gone through the unholy touch of her father at the bedside, hiding his child, and doing all she can to conceal her truth, expressing her partial dishonesty in the very doubt of her voice. Despite his short screen time, John Houston's performance is both as haunting, and yet the least tortured of the film's characters, feeling little regret for his sins, while pursuing his power hungry goals with an almost terrifying form of expressing his want for them. "Chinatown" itself, using it's musical romance theme can haunt a fan, almost as much as it's done to the hero J.J. Gittes.