Chinatown (1974) *****

Born of the marriage of German Expressionism and American, hardboiled detective fiction, film noir is a genre that keeps coming back around. The 1940's and '50s are considered the classic noir era, but directors to the modern day have continued to make starkly-lit, cynical movies about complicated men in suits who get sucked into the darkness of greed, corruption, and betrayal. Among the greatest of these is Roman Polanksi's “Chinatown.” 

 Filmed in 1974, in an America wracked by self-doubt, the movie is set in the hot, L.A. Summer of 1937, during a drought. The city of L.A. is fighting with rural farmers over every drop of precious water. During what starts as a standard cheating-spouse investigation, private detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) discovers that someone is secretly dumping fresh water into the ocean. The cocky Gittes soon finds himself in over his head in a story with all the classic noir elements: a murder investigation, a scheming millionaire, an irritable police force, and, of course, a femme fatale (Faye Dunaway).

“Chinatown” could easily have been simply an homage to noir movies, but the perfection of its execution elevates it to a noir classic in its own right. Polanski's direction is spare and taut. The plot is complicated, but if you pay attention, it makes sense. Jack Nicholson appears in every scene at his charismatic best.

“Chinatown” is about many things, not least of which is the impossibility of being a good man in a system that makes it impossible to do good. As the story unfolds, we learn that Jake used to be a police officer, working in Chinatown. He found it to be a place where no one was interested in solving crimes, just in lining their own pockets and keeping things quiet. When he tried to do one good thing in the midst of all that, he failed, so he left the force to become a private eye. Now, Jake once again finds himself in a position to do something good, if only he can.

If you haven't seen “Chinatown,” it's really imperative that you check it out. The movie stands as one of the greats, alongside films like "The Third Man" and "The Long Goodbye". It holds up well to repeat viewings, and the nihilistic, final line, “Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.” will haunt you forever.

5 stars out of 5