01/04/10 - Chinatown

Chinatown (1974, 131 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/

I saw Chinatown a long time ago (late 2006) and I remembered it was pretty good. However, I only started rating movies in 2009 and a website I use (www.criticker.com) kept telling me how awesome it was. I didn't remember it being a 10/10 like it was saying but I decided to check it out again anyway. Especially after seeing noir classics like Sunset Blvd. and the more modern L.A. Confidential.

Chinatown stars Jack Nicholson as detective J.J. Gittes. Through a complicated process, he gets drawn into the murder of Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling) and the water company of Los Angeles. Also playing roles in this murder are his wife Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and his business parter Noah Cross (John Huston). A former friend of Gittes and now member of the Los Angeles police is Escobar (Perry Lopez). Director Roman Polanski cameos as Man with Knife.

This is Jack Nicholson in the lead role so of course he's amazing. It's just his nature to be absolutely the best in anything he does. Dunaway is pretty good as well. In my opinion she has an odd beauty to her. I was reminded of Talia Shire for Rocky because she's not drop dead gorgeous but she is attractive. I can't say that "works" for this role, but she has a good presence and does well as Evelyn Mulwray. John Huston is great in his role. He completely fills the part of the old man hell bent on keeping all his money and power. Lopez doesn't have many lines but he also does well in the role of sometimes-friend-sometimes-foe for Gittes.

I'm pretty sure Chinatown is known for three separate scenes, so I'll give my two cents on those. First is the scene where Gittes gets his nose cut. I really like how this is done. First, it's believable and second, it's really unique. It's not your standard scene and, for me at least, this made it a little more disturbing. Also having Gittes have a huge bandage on his face for a lot of the rest of movie is unsettling and gives a more harrowing feel of suspense I think. Next is the dramatic final conversation between Gittes and Evelyn where she reveals the true nature of her relationship with her father. This scene is stunning and mainly for how disturbing (again) the result is. Even knowing what the ensuing conversation will be, it's odd and tense. And the final amazing scene is the final scene of the movie. This scene leaves perhaps the most disgusting taste of all though. How often do you see a movie where everything the protagonist has fought for is completely destroyed? It's chilling and the movie just ends with Gittes a loser in everything.

The movie is amazing to me for this final sequence. It's extremely tragic, possibly the worst ending of any movie I've ever seen. The most disgusting (this word seems to be a common one for the movie) part of the ending to me is when Noah Cross takes Katherine with him from the car. The "There, there" comforting is sickening after the previous ten minutes. Similarly having Evelyn die is another stab to the heart. Gittes has done everything in his power here and just loses. Some movies would be absolutely terrible with a happy and feel good ending. Chinatown is one of those movies. I'm so glad this tragic ending won out over whatever the happy one would have been.

Overall, I gave this film a 9/10. The acting is incredible and the story is very engaging. Gittes's little nuances and smarts as he solves the mysteries building up around him is a lot of fun to watch and Nicholson is great as always. The final fifteen minutes destroys everything and leaves one sickened. To have a movie leave such a bad taste in my mouth is a testament to how well it succeeded in creating great characters in an amazing plot.