CHINATOWN (1974) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | REACTION-REVIEW

[@peterquinones3522]

Polanski is known to be the only director who could do absolutely anything on a set. If the gaffer was out, he knew how to rig the lights. If the make up girl was out, he could put the makeup on the actors. If the editor was out, he knew how to cut the film on the moviola. Etc etc 😮😮 Great reaction BTW.😊

[@Dej24601]

The screenplay is often cited as one of the greatest ever written. No matter how many times it is viewed, there are additional details to notice, and more complex layers to the story to understand. The structure of the script is so perfectly balanced, and character development is so integrated into the events that it is used as a textbook tool for film students.

[@Dej24601]

It is usually assumed that Cross was shot in the shoulder or arm or side, or the bullet brushed him somewhat superficially, which allowed him to continue to stand and walk for the rest of the scene.

[@anrun]

Plus, it was a very small caliber gun.

[@NeverMeAlwaysYou]

Evelyn shot her father in the upper arm, by the shoulder capsule. THIS is Nicholson's signature performance, in a career filled with great ones. The original ending had Evelyn shooting and killing her father, but director Roman Polanski INSISTED on the tragic ending. Polanski had gone through the tragedy of having his pregnant fiance murdered in LA by the crazed Manson murderers. (Polanski gave himself the role of the hood, who slices Jake's nose.) In his mind, the world was a dark place, where the powerful get away with everything. At the end, Cross gets the dam built, all the cheap real estate, AND the girl. And, obtw he gets away with Mulwray's murder. He gets it all. Jake is left with the haunting memory of the beautiful Mrs. Mulwray, and how history has repeated in the most awful way. "I tried to keep a girl from being hurt. And I ended up making sure she was hurt." Chinatown isn't a place........its a state of mind. And it's the land of Jake's nightmares. This is easily the greatest noir ever made, and maybe the best film of the 1970's. Only the Godfather movies are on its level. This screenplay set the standard. The one that all others are compared to. By consensus, it is regarded as the best ever.

[@vincentsaia6545]

The sheep farmer at the hearing was played by Ron Howard's father, Rance.

[@rs91268]

Awesome reaction

[@TylerD288]

The look of shock you had during the 'she's my sister and my daughter' scene was great! Obviously there are some great twists in this film. The ending is heartbreaking, but realistic, and I wished the grandad had been seriously wounded at least. Also, like you I love many of Nicholson's performances, however I haven't loved every movie he's been in. "Five Easy Pieces" get's a lot of worship, but I thought it was just okay, however Nicholson's performance was still great. I love Faye Dunaway even more in this film. Now you see why she covered her chest with her arms when Nicholson mentioned her father when they were in bed together, foreshadowing the tragic truth. I first saw her in "Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman where she gave another great performance. One other great little piece of acting was when she explained her and her fathers' relationship to Nicholson. She doesn't say it explicitly, but she moves her head in such a way as to make her meaning clear, just very naturalistic acting there. Great reaction Sheila, you're a joy to watch! Favorite film noir? "Casablanca" OF COURSE! How could it be anything else?! One of the best scripts of all time and such a tight plot, great acting, great cast, with a noble message to boot!

[@michelm306]

It's a reminder and a taste, by way of the movie's ending, of how reality usually manifests its self. Corruption and power almost always succeeds in its aims. Fairness and justice doesn't. At least in the larger scheme things

[@flarrfan]

Which is wrapped up neatly at the end by the classic line she left out of the edit..."Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

[@hmr171]

My top five film noir movies are "The Big Sleep", "The Maltese Falcon", "Out of The Past", "Laura" and "Murder My Sweet". Chinatown would have been in its element if it was filmed in the 40's. A great homage to the previous generation.

[@flarrfan]

You should add LA Confidential to your list...I like it even better than Chinatown.

[@vincentsaia6545]

Jack Nicholson and writer Robert Towne met in an acting class in the 1950s.

[@shaneheff5244]

Beautifully shot movie and Jack is such a compelling actor on screen. I hope you get to review Five Easy Pieces too - another classic with Jack in full flow.

[@TTM9691]

Yes!!!! A perfect marriage of movie to reactor! Excellent concise edit as well! Always great to see your reactions to top-shelf cinema! Great analogy to Vertigo, never thought of that and you're 100% right! Fave noir? Orson Welles' "Touch Of Evil"....and two obscure ones no one ever mentions: "Born To Kill" and "The Devil Thumbs A Ride", both with Lawrence Tierney.

[@flarrfan]

Not sure how you can say that when she left the classic closing line out..."Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

[@vincentsaia6545]

Evelyn shot Cross in the shoulder.

[@vincentsaia6545]

The eyeglasses left at the murder scene was based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case.

[@flarrfan]

Favorite noir is LA Confidential...

[@SatansSimgma]

There is a Confidential in every America city

[@MrRondonmon]

The reason she started *Covering up* when he mentioned her father was it made her feel shame. So, you caught that, but never put 2 + 2 together because the big reveal was later on. One of my top 10 movies all time. The old man Directed a lot of great movies, The Maltese Falcon amongst them.

[@auerstadt06]

Evelyn shot her father in the arm, which, as I'm certain you know, is harmless in movies.

[@PrinceofPain-wv1lo]

*1975 Al Pacino..Dog day Afternoon..Base on a true story * I'm going to watch your Chinatown reaction, later this even. I .Appreciate you..Prince

[@shaneheff5244]

Dog Day is such a great movie. Must watch it again soon.

[@vincentsaia6545]

Robert Towne got some of the investigation techniques (the watches under the car, the breaking the tail light, etc.) from a police officer friend who worked in Chinatown.

[@rpk0925-s5j]

Great reaction! ... thank you. If you feel like continuing exploring the best Jack Nicholson films, perhaps it would be worth your while to see what probably is his breakout film ... "Easy Rider" from 1969. It's a landmark counterculture film about 2 bikers traveling cross country during the hippie days of the 1960s. Jack plays a lawyer they meet along the way ... arguably stealing the whole movie.

[@vincentsaia6545]

Robert Towne wrote an upbeat ending but Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson rewrote the ending to the consternation of Towne who criticized it for many years until admitting in 2002 it was the right ending.

[@FilmBuff54]

The tragic ending is what makes “Chinatown” a great film, because IRL, powerful men get away with everything.

[@vincentsaia6545]

John Huston's mispronouncing Gittes' name was genuine. He couldn't pronounce it properly.

[@PapaEli-pz8ff]

It certainly fit his character quite naturally

[@doyledeclue282]

There is a sequel.It's called the two jakes

[@oxhine]

Hey, Sheila! Don't look for happy endings in noir! Lol. Kinda defeats the purpose! Cross was grazed in the arm or shoulder by a small caliber gun like a Derringer. John Huston and Roman Polanski were absolutely vile in this film but they're both amazing directors! Huston played Cross and Polanski slit Jack's nose. Polanski directed the film! I love how the story begins so small as a grubby PI procedural before ballooning into a huge statewide conspiracy but ultimately contracts into an intimate dysfunctional family drama. Your edit cut out the most famous line in the film: "Ferget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."! Faye Dunaway is magnificent and heartbreaking in this. Even a hard-boiled, jaded cynic like Jake Gittes is taken aback at the horrific miscarriage of justice that plays out at the end.

[@bossfan49]

This was a tough movie for me, personally despite the fine acting performances. For one.. there's a lot of driving to many locations, here and there...to and fro etc.😀 Troublesome things happen and are discovered throughout the movie, the hero is ineffective, the victim gets killed, the villain remains free and the other victim is certainly subject to further torment after the credits roll. I don't mind gritty movies, but this one had zero justice or even resolve. Just wasn't for me I guess.

[@matthewstroud4294]

You are correct about the thematic part of the film - it has what can be termed a "malevolent universe premise" where life is all about struggle, pain and injustice, where although reality is neutral, human values can rarely be achieved. But, that is perhaps the only negative and it is shared by many great stories. I disagree with the premise, but I love this film.

[@bossfan49]

@matthewstroud4294 I've only seen it once. Perhaps if I ever have a 2nd viewing.... Now that I know not to expect a happy ending I can focus on other things. Btw, LA Confidential reminded me a lot of Chinatown.

[@Dej24601]

There are aspects to the the fictional story which relate to real-life events; elements of the story of wealthy landowners controlling the water supply in California and manipulating real estate and public utilities and the political control it gave, did happen.

[@TylerD288]

I had the same reaction the first time I saw this film over 20 years ago. I knew the acting and writing were very good, but I hated the ending. I watched it again recently, I think this past August, and I liked it much better for some reason.

[@Dej24601]

Films in the 1970’s often had downbeat or at least very ambiguous endings. Because the country had gone through the various traumas of the 1960’s, and the debacle of the Vietnam war, and Watergate, and the rebellions in countries outside the US, audiences of films made around the world were accustomed to sad events, sad endings, antiheroes, and movies that were filled with flawed characters. The “noir” traditions from many films made from about 1940 to 1960, again were mostly about characters who the audience was supposed to identify with (or at least follow in the movie,) but were very much anti-heroes, or criminals or complicated characters. The idea of main characters being good and heroic, with tidy and upbeat endings was less common in the experimental and independent and often controversial, new types of films being made in the 1970’s by folks like Scorsese, Coppola, Polanski, Cassavetes, Altman, Friedkin, Lumet, Schlesinger, Peckinpah, Fosse and many more, as the old studio system broke down. Altho “Chinatown” deals with events from the 1930’s, it exudes the noirish feeling of the noir era post-WW2 films, and the tension of 1970’s when the screenplay and film were created.