Salt water...velly bad for glass

Rating: 10/10 (13 September 2002)

Chinatown is in my opinion the greatest movie ever made. It has absolutely everything!
It draws influences from classic 40s film noir such as The Big Sleep and the Maltese Falcon and somehow manages to surpass them on every level. In Chinatown too we have the cocky gumshoe, the femme fatale (for once working out of the best of intentions) and of course the labyrinthine plot. We also have a number of other characters who either, act as vehicles or obstructions to help and hinder Gittes on his journey. However, there is also a certain vulnerability to Nicholson's character underneath that confident exterior that isn't as obvious in say Phillip Marlow or Sam Spade.
The plot is highly absorbing and Robert Towne deservedly won an Oscar for his screen writing. He somehow manages to make a seemingly mundane political scandal seem interesting by meshing it with a private scandal of the most disturbing kind and every word uttered seems to have major significance in terms of plot and character development.
The ending is now legendary and Polanski deserves huge recognition for this. It was he who demanded that it was changed from Towne's original and the pair famously fell out over it. However, Towne has since rightly conceded that Polanski's ending, shocking and tragic though it is, ensures that this film lives long in the memory.
Furthermore, the casting and performances are of the highest quality. Nicholson gives a world beating performance as JJ Gittes, while Dunaway plays the classic Femme Fatale to perfection. And lets not forget the legendary John Huston whose rich, charming Noah Cross has a dark hidden secret.
Polanski's mainly subjective camera-work deserves admiration as he captures a sun-drenched 1940s Los Angeles to perfection, and his appearance as the "Midget" with the knife pre-empts one of the most memorable scenes in movie history.
On the whole Chinatown to me represents what constitutes a great film - believable characters with depth and feeling, a great plot-line and magnificent direction.
The film, had it not been up against The Godfather Part II, would surely have taken the Oscars by storm.
If you haven't seen it - do so immediately and if you have then watch it again and witness a bonafide masterpiece.