An early predecessor to L.A. Confidential

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2014)

Film noir is a genre that consists a sense of pessimism. It is a style in the cinema that can be described as dark, depressing and twisted. In the film noir world, the cops are crooked, the women are devious and the hero is a man who can't seem to understand anything that is being investigated. By the end of this long-lasting journey through intrigue and mystery, you will find the truth and the truth will or can be deceiving.
Enter J.J. Gittes. Gittes (Jack Nicholson), is a hard-working private eye, who's specializes in eavesdropping on cheating wives and husbands. His job consists of dropping onto a conversation between the cheating wife or husband and snapping photographs of the two of them together. One day, Gittes finds out that a client wants him to take pictures of her cheating husband. The husband is a chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Learning that he is building a reservoir and that people are opposing his construction of the reservoir, Gittes decides to follow the chief engineer around, taking photographs of him and his adulterous lover. Now, you might think I am telling the first half of the story. Well, I am. The reason why is because the story of Chinatown is a lot twisted than you think.
After Gittes finds out about the cheating husband, he soon finds out that the woman he met in his office is not the same woman he met before. Enter the second character of the story, Evelyn Mulwray, (Faye Dunaway). She is the actual wife of the chief engineer. But, who was the client that was in Gittes' office? Anyway, Gittes continues his investigation and winds up having his nose cut from a punk, (Roman Polanski), and having to find out that water is the main clue of the murder. But, wait a minute.... The chief engineer is in control of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Why would someone kill him?
The story deepens as Gittes meets up with Noah Cross, (John Huston), during his investigation. Now, there are two people involved in this mystery. More clues start to pop up. And Gittes? Well, he's in way over his head. I guess the truth is going to be hard to get to.
Chinatown is in the great tradition of the film-noir movies of the 1940's. In fact, the story takes place in 1937 Los Angeles. Director Roman Polanski creates a very dark and disturbing underworld where sometimes the truth can lead to dangerous circumstances. The set direction and costume design are very well done and builds a certain amount of authenticity as both a period picture and as a film noir movie. The way Los Angeles is portrayed as a city of mystery is great because there is so much going on in this metropolis that we, as the audience, are caught between two ongoing problems: the water issue and Gittes' investigation.
Jack Nicholson is perhaps, one of the best and most hard-working actors of our time. He creates, what I think, one of his best and most memorable performances in his career. He portrays Jake Gittes as both a man and a detective, who understands something about bad luck since he been to that place. Here, his presence makes the film works because he can't seem to penetrate this strange and mixed up world that seems different to us since he can't understand everything he's given. The more he feeds himself into this world, the more knowledge he will gained. Every time he gets closer to the clues, he ends up having to be drawn back to himself. One scene that proves this point is when Gittes' nose is cut by Polanski. Every step is dangerous, according to Gittes.
I also enjoy and really admired the performances by Dunaway and Huston. Dunaway is stunning as Mulwray, creating a character, who at first, isn't pleased by Gittes' joke, but soon comes to terms and becomes Gittes' helper as she begins to explore the underworld with him. Together, you might think that there's a chemistry between the two, but really, these two characters are somehow locked up in this underworld, where everything is not what is seems to be, according to the characters. John Huston is very convincing as Noah Cross, a man who's questions are startling to Gittes since he is crossing that invisible line between discovery and the truth. In one scene, he advised Jake, "You don't what you're dealing with. You just don't"
Robert Towne's screenplay for the movie is a captivating script that is filled with authentic dialogue, which illustrates the world of 1937 Los Angeles and also creates sharp conversations between all of the characters. There are a lot of great well-written and well-spoken lines in Chinatown that can be dared to be said.
I wish more storytellers can tell more stories like this one. It is also equivalent to a great book, one that you can't simply put down. I have had that feeling while watching Chinatown. I just couldn't stop watching and for the most of the time, I was more focused on every bit of detail and aspect that this movie had to offer. The first time you might not understand everything that is being done. But, when you see it the second time around, you will understand how everything falls into place. In fact, maybe we can learn something about the littlest details, like water. ★★★★ 4 stars.