How low can people really go ?

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2006)

Roman Polanski's film Chinatown (1974) is an uncomfortable movie to watch. Based on Robert Towne's screenplay, its title is beguiling wherever you live. We all have a 'Chinatown' nearby.. but does it really harbour the natural consequence of all the human failings that come to light in this film ?
Our guide, who systematically uncovers the full forensic detail of the seamy side of life for us, is former cop  now private detective  Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson).
To keep us on the straight and narrow whenever we lose our own sense of moral values, we have Lou Escobar (Perry Lopez)  a salaried officer in the Police Department. We certainly need him as we begin to discover how a healthy civil engineer, used to water, came to drown in a shallow pond outside his own front door.
As Gittes is engaged by his widow, Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), we begin to learn  stage by stage  what became of her husband and why.
Along the way we encounter deception on a grand scale, municipal fraud, jealousy and finally incest. As Noah Cross (John Huston) is quick to point out

See Mr Gittes,.. most people never have to face the fact that  at the right time and in the right place - they're capable of anything..

As the unwilling audience of this film, we have to face this fact or at least consider the possibility.