Cert X
Polanski’s Chinatown still remains a masterpiece of storytelling, whilst evoking the gritty films noir of the 1940s. Private investigator JJ Gittes (Jack Nicholson) gets caught up in corporate corruption as he investigates an adultery case for a woman whose real identity is at first concealed. From previous experience with unreliable clients, Gittes is a man who detests liars, but as truths and lies are exposed he mines new depths of deception. During his investigations it transpires that Evelyn the thwarted wife (Faye Dunaway) is the daughter of Noah Cross, a scurrilous business tycoon at the centre of the corruption scandal. “‘Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough,’ says John Huston’s crooked construction magnate Noah Cross in this remarkable neo-noir by Roman Polanski.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.
Dir: Roman Polanski 130mins USA 1974
Comments
- Great film – ABCD at its best!
- Wonderful story, acting, photography
- An excellent mystery that showcased all the technicalities that made the 1970s such an exceptional decade for American cinema
- Brilliant evocation of place and period
- Bravura performances
- Fascinating from beginning to painful end. Can’t believe this film is 40+ years old
- I did understand it a bit better than when I saw it 40 years ago!
- A bit slow (and perhaps) more style than substance
- Long, violent and not always easy to follow
- Confused!
- A bit confusing but Nicholson was very good