Fiendish but sophisticated classic that demands revisits

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 2008)

Roman Polanski's CHINATOWN has classical film-noir elements, but the beating heart of the movie lies in Polanski's own bag of tricks and oddity; he twists schoolbook-stuff around and adds misguiding, bizarre moments and characters, adding to the movie's intelligent narrative. Because anyhow, Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes is a gritty feature, he's experienced failure from back when he was a policeman in Chinatown, something that we only get through mysterious hints. Ad Jake's a well-dressed, humorous and classy man, but also cynical and impulsive and doesn't affect by walking around with a bandaged-nose most parts of the film. This is a hard-boiled detective-mystery which spins its complicated puzzle into something disturbingly dark, in which Faye Dunaway's terrific performance as the elegant Evelyn holds the movie's dark core as she acts like a classy femme fatale, with suspicious motives. CHINATOWN is one of those conspiracy-thrillers that demands a revisit, not only because its twirled plot is so intriguing, but because of Polanski creating a unforgettable, dark atmosphere of originals and one of Nicholson's greatest performances as he investigates his way down through greed, murder and incest.