← Back to Reviews
in
I actually rewatched Chinatown yesterday. I figured it was about time with it coming up soon on the list and not remembering it as clearly as I liked, and as with a lot of great films I rewatch, it reminded me just how brilliant it is. My brother watched it with me too (his first time) and he loved it, he's a big Jack Nicholson fan and likes noirs too, so I'm not surprised.
Carrying on from what Mark says about foreshadowing, what about the scene with Jake and Evelyn in the car where she's upset and leans head forward beeping the horn and you you hear dogs reacting in the background, mirroring the ending.
"You're a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses."
A second viewing meant that the plot was easier to understand and I enjoyed a lot of the individual scenes better. There is just so much to love about the film, its film making perfection. Directed with so much confidence, the film has a highly ambitious 'epic' feel about it. The story is one of the most complex and haunting mysteries of all time, and the screenplay has some fantastic dialogue with a great mixture of intelligence and humour.
Nicholson, possibly the greatest actor of the decade, gives a fantastic performance. As Mark says he's pretty useless, at least to begin and only becomes involved initially through chance. He tries to be confident and funny, but there are lots of hints and scenes throughout to show a more damaged person. Faye Dunaway is also great alongside him, but the star in my opinion is John Huston as the villain. In his initial scenes he seems fairly normal but there are dark menacing undertones that make us feel early on that Jake may be in way over his head, but by the end we realise he is one of the most evil and unlikable villains in film history.
There are so many great scenes in the film. Polanski cutting Nicholson's nose is brilliant and unique, the Nicholson and Dunaway bathroom scene, the joke gone wrong scene, and the orange fields chase. Another one that might favourite is outside the retirement home when Jake fights off Mulivihill and is shot at as Evelyn gets the car to save him, a great uplifting moment that made me smile.
Carrying on from what Mark says about foreshadowing, what about the scene with Jake and Evelyn in the car where she's upset and leans head forward beeping the horn and you you hear dogs reacting in the background, mirroring the ending.
"You're a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses."
A second viewing meant that the plot was easier to understand and I enjoyed a lot of the individual scenes better. There is just so much to love about the film, its film making perfection. Directed with so much confidence, the film has a highly ambitious 'epic' feel about it. The story is one of the most complex and haunting mysteries of all time, and the screenplay has some fantastic dialogue with a great mixture of intelligence and humour.
Nicholson, possibly the greatest actor of the decade, gives a fantastic performance. As Mark says he's pretty useless, at least to begin and only becomes involved initially through chance. He tries to be confident and funny, but there are lots of hints and scenes throughout to show a more damaged person. Faye Dunaway is also great alongside him, but the star in my opinion is John Huston as the villain. In his initial scenes he seems fairly normal but there are dark menacing undertones that make us feel early on that Jake may be in way over his head, but by the end we realise he is one of the most evil and unlikable villains in film history.
There are so many great scenes in the film. Polanski cutting Nicholson's nose is brilliant and unique, the Nicholson and Dunaway bathroom scene, the joke gone wrong scene, and the orange fields chase. Another one that might favourite is outside the retirement home when Jake fights off Mulivihill and is shot at as Evelyn gets the car to save him, a great uplifting moment that made me smile.