Chinatown (film)
"Chinatown" is a classic neo-noir film directed by Roman Polanski, released in 1974. Set in 1937 Los Angeles, it follows the story of J. J. "Jake" Gittes, a cynical private detective portrayed by Jack Nicholson, who specializes in divorce cases. The narrative begins when Gittes is hired by a woman posing as Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband, Water Commissioner Hollis Mulwray. However, Gittes soon discovers that he has been manipulated, and as the plot unfolds, he becomes embroiled in a complex murder investigation that reveals deep familial and financial corruption, particularly involving the menacing Noah Cross, played by John Huston.
The film intricately weaves themes of betrayal, power, and the dark underbelly of Los Angeles, which resonate with the socio-political climate of the 1970s. "Chinatown" is notable for its compelling performances, particularly by Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, and is credited with revitalizing the film noir genre. It received critical acclaim, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and significantly contributing to Nicholson's rise as a major star. The film's haunting conclusion leaves a lasting impact, emphasizing the cyclical nature of corruption and despair.
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Subject Terms
Chinatown (film)
Identification Motion picture
Chinatown updated the conventions of the American crime film, depicting lust and greed in a stylish re-creation of California during the 1930’s.
Date Released in 1974
Director Roman Polanski
Key Figures
Roman Polanski (1933- ), film director
Directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne, Chinatown is set in a parched Los Angeles in 1937. J. J. (“Jake”) Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson ) is a cynical private detective specializing in divorce cases, a former police officer haunted by his experiences in the city’s Chinatown.
The case begins when a woman identifying herself as Evelyn Mulwray, wife of Water Commissioner Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling), hires Gittes to investigate her husband’s infidelities. Not surprisingly, the commissioner spends most of his time inspecting water channels, but he does appear finally to meet a young woman in an assignation. Gittes conveys his findings to his client only to see his report in the following day’s newspaper. When the detective is confronted by the real Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), he realizes that he has been set up to embarrass the commissioner. The case becomes even more complicated when Hollis Mulwray is found dead, an apparent drowning victim, and his widow hires Gittes to investigate what they both believe is a murder.
Behind this welter of events looms the imposing figure of Noah Cross (played by famed director John Huston ), Evelyn’s father and Hollis Mulwray’s former business partner. Gittes already has learned that Cross stands to profit from a dam that Hollis Mulwray had refused to build. Cross pretends to be concerned with his daughter’s welfare, but when Gittes is attacked by a sinister gangster (played by director Polanski himself) and finds the woman who had impersonated Evelyn Mulwray murdered, all signs point to Cross.
Finally Gittes, who has begun an affair with Evelyn Mulwray, forces the truth from his lover: She had been raped by her father, and Hollis’s “mistress” is really the daughter whom she has kept in hiding. Gittes attempts to help, but it is too late, as he has already set in motion the events that will result in Cross’s terrible triumph.
The intricate plot of Chinatown is developed slowly by Polanski. Only at the film’s end do events accelerate in an agonizing finale in Chinatown. Dunaway and Huston deliver persuasive performances, but Nicholson, playing a shallow character whose knowingness and wit mask a dangerous naïveté, carries the film.
Impact
Although set in the past, Chinatown illuminates the California of the 1970’s, a setting in which the problems of the past have never gone away. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and transformed Jack Nicholson into a major star. Perhaps most important, Chinatown breathed new life into American film noir, the genre of “black” and pessimistic films pioneered by John Huston’s own 1941 classic The Maltese Falcon.
Bibliography
Eaton, Michael. Chinatown. London: British Film Institute, 1997.
Thompson, Peter. Jack Nicholson: The Life and Times of an Actor on the Edge. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol, 1997.
Waxman, Virginia Wright. Roman Polanski. Boston: Twayne, 1985.