IMDb top 250: #86
Rating 8/10
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Robert Towne
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway & John Huston
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
I had never seen this movie and it's one I've always wanted to watch but never got around to it. When I saw it was included in the 500 I thought great, now I have to get around to watching it. I've decided to have a Roman Polanski day, starting with Chinatown and then Rosemary's Baby a bit later (review to follow). Jack Nicholson stars as Jake Gittes, a private detective hired to investigate an adulterer only to be drawn in to a complex web of lies and murder.
Robert Towne's script is superb, the dialogue sharp and clever and there are some great lines throughout, I particularly loved Jake telling to the cop, how the cops wife had caused the cut on his nose. The plot is engaging and constantly keeps you guessing, right up until the final conclusion. This is film-noir at it's finest and Roman Polanski's direction is amazing, there is a real mood to the piece helped by fantastic cinematography and a haunting score. The score is one of the best I've ever heard. The pacing of the film is slow and deliberate, allowing the viewer to uncover the mystery at the same time as Jake, you take in everything he does. whilst the opening of a drawer or a shot of a pond may reveal nothing on first glance it will later become relevant; this a film that requires you to think, to pay attention.
The costumes in the movie are fantastic, the suits especially those worn by Jack Nicholson's character are exquisitely tailored and Faye Dunaway's Evelyn looks flawless. Dunaway was such a beauty!
Jack Nicholson delivers a brilliant performance as Jake and has created a character you want to see again (perhaps one day I will get around to watching The Two Jakes). Faye Dunaway is equally as good as Evelyn; she brings life to this flawed and damaged character and whilst he's not in the movie much John Huston owns the scenes that he is in.
Chinatown is a great movie, one that I would highly recommend.
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