chinatown, arguably roman polanski's finest moment is one of the key films of the ''new'' hollywood of the 1970's. jack nicholson stars as jake gittes, in one of his most memorable performances, with faye dunaway as the femme fetale and filmmaker john huston in a glorified cameo that is the literal description of a "scene-stealer". the film models itself on film noir, yet with a post-modern slant; most of the film is set in the heat rinsed desert city of 1930's los angeles, as opposed to the shadows of some claustrophobic tight wound city. as such the film is left with an interesting and unique perspective, and one that is removed deeply from its comparitive points.
nicholson is fantastic as the private detective of almost celebrity fame, in one of the key roles of his year. when put into the context of his larger career this is even more impressive, as chinatown and jake gittes sits comfortably beside the previously explored the passenger and five easy pieces (reviewed here alongside his later work in the shining), as well as the likes of the last detail (a personal favourite) and one flew over the cuckoos nest. to call that a 'good' run would be the greatest of understatements. with chinatown it is said (by none other than robert wise) that nicholson finally became a big enough name to carry a major commercial picture to great financial success. its also rather fitting that nicholson avoided roles similiar to that of gittes for the rest of his career, as a mark of respect by all accounts.
john huston, director of such greats as the treasure of sierra madre, the maltese falcon and the african queen makes a chilling, if brief performance as noah cross, the man who effectively "owns" the los angeles water supply, and is therefore involved in the surrounding investigation. his presence is magnificent, with noah cross being one of the most severely underrated screen villains of all time in this writers opinion. his final moments, wherein he snatches his daughter/granddaughter is akin to the likes of the max shreck nosferatu, or even to the demon in last weeks faust. its gloriously over the top villain behaviour, but entirely appropriate. as a result of huston's grandiose performance, the downbeat ending is largely overshadowed by the quick paced events that fill the finale, which successfully contradict the rather relaxed nature of the preceeding 2 hours.
chinatown was the final american picture made by roman polanski prior to the sex crime allegations that have plagued the last 30 years of his career. while he has had some success since (the pianist and the best director oscar that it brought with it being the most obvious benchmark for post-chinatown success) his career has never really reached the commercial highs of chinatown.
chinatown was the first part of a planned trilogy. the second film, the two jakes, was released in 1990 and was set in the murky world of the oil industry, with its commercial and critical failure sealing the fate of the third film, cloverleaf (set around the inception of the l.a freeway). almost twenty years on from the failure of the two jakes, there is a big part of this viewer that would love to see the trilogy capped off, with a ''later years'' take on the character of jake gittes set in the 1960s or 70's.
