A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2003)

***Possible Spoilers***Where do I begin? Describing how good a
movie Chinatown is, is like like trying to describe how big the
Grand Canyon is. In this gritty, complex, sad, disturbing
masterpiece from director Roman Polanski and stars Jack
Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and an absolutely evil John Huston, we
take a glimpse at pre war Los Angeles through the eyes of Jake
Gittes (Nicholson), a private investigator who stumbles onto the
case of a lifetime. What he uncovers, a scheme to steal the water
of Los Angeles is only the tip of the iceberg. "Chinatown" as
screenwriter Robert Towne explains in the DVD intro is a place
where a policeman once told him that he didn't want to do
anything, because he could never tell if he was helping or hurting
someone, a grey area so to speak, where the law doesn't easily
reach. "Chinatown" is the ultimate metaphor of this movie, a place
where wrongs will not be set right. As one of Gittes' assistants
remarks at the end of the film, when Jake sees all that he has
worked for destroyed by the evil Noah Cross (Huston) "Forget it
Jake, it's Chinatown..." Disheartening, honest, raw, sad. All of these are "Chinatown" A
movie you will never forget.