On 2010-03-16 C. CRADDOCK, Bakersfield wrote: In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I´ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
´Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,´ he told me, ´just remember that all the people in this world haven´t had the advantages that you´ve had.´
He didn´t say any more, but in considering the life of a certain individual who goes by the name of Roman Polanski, I´m inclined to reserve judgment. Let the courts decide his fate. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Forget it, Jake. It´s Chinatown.
As for his oeuvre, that´s another matter. I will judge that until the cows come home. And my judgment is this: Chinatown is a great film by a great director, Roman Polanski; with a great script by Robert Towne; and a great actor, Jack Nicholson; a great actress, Faye Dunaway; and a pivotal performance by another great director, John Huston.
Chinatown is kind of a roman à clef, if you will, where Noah Cross, played by director John Huston, stands in for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power director William Mulholland (1855-1935), the man who created modern Los Angeles out of a desert by adding water and stirring.
---------
Noah Cross: Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water.
=====================
Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a private eye who usually handles divorce cases. When the wife of the director of the water department comes in he tells her that if she loves him, it might be better not to know. Later, when the real Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) comes in he starts to realize that there is a lot more to the case than meets the eye. He wants to help the real Mrs. Mulwray but senses that she is hiding something. Is she ever. Gittes sticks his nose into other peoples business and almost gets it cut off for his trouble, but he can´t stop until he gets to the gritty truth.
If Humphrey Bogart´s detective in ´The Maltese Falcon´ (directed, by the way, by John Huston) was the prototype, then Jake Gittes was the updated, post-modern version. Where Bogart lacked the classic leading man good looks, Nicholson took it even further, with a receding hairline and a face somewhere between Mickey Mouse and the wolf in a Tex Avery cartoon. He is crass and crude, but buried deep within there is the desire to do the righteous thing. The whole genre of film noir is updated in ´Chinatown.´ Instead of a case involving a fabulous jewel, the stuff from which dreams are woven, we have instead a case involving water, and the crime and corruption it took to deliver that water to Los Angeles. Water, Power, Hollywood--the real stuff from which dreams are woven!
Nicholson was born to play Private Investigator Jake Gittes. Or rather, Robert Towne wrote the role with Nicholson in mind. He was a friend of Jack´s, and modeled Jake´s dialogue after Nicholson´s distinctive mode of speech.
The story goes that Producer Robert Evans wanted Towne to do a screenplay based on The Great Gatsby, but Towne didn´t want to take on F. Scott Fitzgerald. I know the feeling. Though he was offered $175,000 to do the Gatsby script, he said that for only $25,000 he´d do an original script based on something a Los Angeles police officer had told him when asked what he used to do while working in Chinatown:
´As little as possible.´
The cop explained that since they couldn´t speak Chinese, they couldn´t decipher what was really going on, and therefore couldn´t tell if their actions were preventing crime, or helping the criminals commit a crime under the color of the law. So they did as little as possible.
Throughout ´Chinatown,´ the film, the idea of Chinatown as a place or situation where the standard moral compass is no help to navigation runs like a Chinese wall. The film is really about Los Angeles--and why it is called Chinatown might seem like an enigma--but after watching it you´ll know exactly what is meant.
The film might seem slow paced in parts, as layer after layer of the puzzle is slowly peeled away, but it is tightly written by Robert Towne, nothing is wasted, and even when nothing much happens, the tension is being ratcheted up. Take for instance a scene in the Hall of Records where Gittes encounters an officious petty pimple faced bureaucrat. Or the scene where Gittes visits the office of the director of the water department and annoys the secretary. The tension continually builds. It is all so very Hitchcockian.
And speaking of Alfred, Polanski pulls a Hitchcock by appearing in the film himself. I won´t blow his cover, but no doubt the role was a way for Polanski and Nicholson to blow off some steam. The relations between director and star--as well as between the director and the screenwriter, and the director and the leading lady--were notoriously contentious. Polanski even smashed Jack´s portable TV with a mop as he was fed up with Jack always stalling his scenes so he could watch L.A. Lakers games.
--------
Noah Cross: I don´t blame myself. You see, Mr. Gitts, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they´re capable of ANYTHING.
=============
Though all the aspects of ´Chinatown´ were top notch, a final ´note´ on the soundtrack is in order, pun intended. Parts of the score reminded me of ´The Planet of The Apes´ where percussion punctuates the mounting tension. But in a good way. Other parts used Jazz and Pop songs from the era (mid to late 30´s, early 40´s) to give a feel for the period. Sometimes the tunes were echoed by the actors, like when Jake Gittes is waiting in the Water and Power Department office, annoying the secretary by humming and singing said songs. The best moments though are the beautiful trumpet solos that were played by Hollywood studio veteran Uan Rasey.
´Chinatown´ was Roman Polanski´s last American film before he fled the country, so far never to return--unless he is extradited.
-----------
Jake Gittes: You´re dumber than you think I think you are.
===============
The Pianist (2002) Directed by Roman Polanski
Bitter Moon (1992) Directed by Roman Polanski
The Witches of Eastwick (1987) Jack Nicholson was Daryl Van Horne
Barfly (1987) Faye Dunaway was Wanda Wilcox
Mommie Dearest (1981) Faye Dunaway was Joan Crawford
Carnal Knowledge (1971) Jack Nicholson was Jonathan
Five Easy Pieces (1970) Jack Nicholson was Robert Eroica Dupea
Myra Breckinridge (1970) John Huston was Buck Loner
Candy (1968) John Huston was Dr. Arnold Dunlap
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Faye Dunaway was Bonnie Parker
--------
Walsh: Forget it, Jake. It´s Chinatown.
==================. And summed up by saying Forget it, Jake. It´s Chinatown. Currently Chinatown has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
Chinatown can also be found in the following searches:
Paramount claimed Jack nicholson stars as a private eye who follows socialite faye dunaway into a hotbed of scandal corruption and murder in 1930s los angeles. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: Jack Nicholson John Huston Run time: 131 minutes Rating: R Director: Roman Polanski
Item that are similar to Chinatown can be found at: