Movie Notes: Chinatown

February 16th, 2009

= 5 stars

Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Directed by Roman Polanski

Chinatown is of the film noir genre and although it was made in the seventies, its story is set in the period when many film noirs were made. The setting is Los Angeles, where water is money because of its desert location. The basic plot surrounds water’s value to the city of Los Angeles. Whomever controls the water has power and can generate insane wealth merely by choosing where and when water goes. In fact, California today is still very much subject to both power corruption (Enron making profits by shifting power from one state to another) and insane land valuations being propped up by the highest bidder.

In addition to this situation, the larger concept of “Chinatown” from which the film takes its name refers to a world so corrupt that no matter what you do, you’re part of the problem, so it’s better to do as little as possible. Not much of the film actually takes place in Chinatown proper, but it’s influence sneaks in at many points during the film, from the Chinese servants, dirty jokes, ex-police partners, to the fact the film’s centerpiece, private investigator Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) once worked in Chinatown.

Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a private investigator, but a contradictory, confused one in contrast with the hard-boiled, smart-ass type portrayed by the likes of Humphrey Bogart. At times Jake can be sleazy and aggressive, as exemplified by the numerous fist fights and combative attitude in public locations (such as the barber shop where he nearly assaults a fellow patron who criticizes his profession), but at other times he’s strangely passive and apathetic, either because his wheels are turning in his head, or he’s letting others do all the talking so he can gather additional information. Yet despite the darkness and depressing subject matter around him, Jake retains a basic idealism that he can still be a positive force for justice. This idealism doesn’t appear too often, but rises to the surface as he talks about nailing some corrupt government “big boys,” and near the film’s conclusion when he tries to help his client Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) find some peace in her world.

Mrs. Mulwray is a complicated character with multiple motivations. Whenever the subject of her father Noah Cross (John Huston) comes up, she becomes noticeably uncomfortable, fidgeting with her cigarettes and jewelry. She’s obviously hiding something. One strength of the film is in that these secrets are very difficult to predict, but when they do emerge everything fishy falls into place, and everything that’s transpired previously takes on alternate meanings and explanations.

Also, by the end of the film, the subject matter of water and land grabs basically switches places with the sub-plot involving Mrs. Mulwray. How things eventually work out is cruel and painful, but crushingly appropriate. The biggest crime in the film is ultimately unpunished, since all witnesses are taken care of.

The director (Roman Polanski) feels that such an ending would not be possible were Chinatown made today. In addition to agreeing with that opinion, I think at the very least, many of the film’s revelations would likely be handled less subtly. I’m certain a number of the film’s revelations would be punctuated with flashback sequences in the vein of “Remember this? If you don’t, we’ll show it to you!” Part of Chinatown’s strength is its conscious choice to not spell everything out to its audience. There are neat tricks such as Jake’s busting out a tail light or laying a pocket watch beneath a car wheel that are never explicitly explained because the film makers assume the audience is smart enough to understand what their purpose is. The biggest potential pitfall that Chinatown deftly avoids would have been to explicitly show some the truly distasteful and nefarious activities in the Cross family’s past. By end of the film, we have enough information to allow us to imagine how things will almost certainly play out after the credits roll. This trust in the audience’s intelligence and imagination is something many modern films don’t have.

The writing of Chinatown is extremely economical and takes us through many confusing twists and turns via murders, mistaken identities, corrupt city officials, payoffs, double crosses, and dark secrets. Things are at times quite convoluted and with enough tasty surprises that I’ve obviously tried hard to avoid discussing the plot, but to sum up, much of the confusion is summed up with a tight bit of dialogue near the end and many clues from early on in the film that are likewise overlooked until then. As Jake himself admits during the film, “I can’t always tell what’s going on.” Yes, that’s the point. In a corrupt world, it’s probably better to not know what’s going on, because some truths are more a hindrance than a benefit. There are some things in life that are just better off kept under wraps.

IMDB: Chinatown
Wikipedia: Chinatown
Rotten Tomatoes: Chinatown 100%