Chinatown [M]

Private detective Jake Gittes is hired by Los Angeles socialite Evelyn Mulwray to follow her husband whom she believes is having an affair. Gittes delivers the goods, but then gets a rude shock when the real Mrs. Mulwray barges into his office and threatens to press charges. Not willing to be made a fool of, Jake delves deeper into the mystery, but soon realises that he’s bitten off more than he can chew when Mrs. Mulwray’s husband is murdered and a whole other mystery comes to light. 

Chinatown was written by Robert Towne (whom I’ve recently read about in What Happens Next) especially for his friend Jack Nicholson, and I have to say that it’s an amazing film filled with mysteries, murder, deceit, and rude shocks. It was really rather brilliant! 

Private detective Jake Gittes is hired by Los Angeles socialite Evelyn Mulwray to follow her husband whom she believes is having an affair. Gittes delivers the goods, but then gets a rude shock when the real Mrs. Mulwray barges into his office and threatens to press charges. Not willing to be made a fool of, Jake delves deeper into the mystery, but then realises that he’s bitten off more than he can chew when Mrs. Mulwray’s husband is murdered and a whole other mystery comes to light. 

I think what was most enjoyable about this film was the fact that it was really cleverly written, having mysteries within mysteries, but it wasn’t overly confusing. The entire film was a mind trip, but at the same time rather easy to follow, which is good for people like me who like to know the details about everything that is happening and why it is happening. 

The other thing that I really liked about this film was all the different mysteries that popped up. Chinatown is a classic example of the ripple effect: how something can start out so small and then escalate into something mammoth. What started out as a simple follow-my-husband-I-believe-he’s-cheating-on-me case soon turns into a set up, which then leads to a murder mystery, which then sparks up an investigation into a conspiracy that involves the entire city! It is really amazing and clever writing. Towne, my hat goes off to you. 

Jack Nicholson, for whom the film was written, stars as Jake Gittes and no one could have done it better. Jack was passive, wisecracking, and never gave any emotions away. He didn’t even seem phased by the fact that he had to wear a large bandage on his nose for the duration of the film, courtesy of a nasty character played by Roman Polanski. 

Starring Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Richard Bakalyan, Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover, Nandu Hinds, James O’Rear, Jame Hong, and Roman Polanski, Chinatown was a great film filled with drama, romance, conspiracies, incense, violence, mysteries, and a few rude shocks. It was a really good movie!