Chinatown (1974)
★★★★ — Chinatown (1974)
Roman Polanski directed Chinatown in 1974 from an original screenplay by Robert Towne, who reportedly spent years researching the real Los Angeles water wars of the early twentieth century before completing the script. Produced by Robert Evans at Paramount, it arrived during the New Hollywood period, when studios were handing unusual creative latitude to directors and writers willing to push against genre conventions. Polanski, working in America while already established through Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Repulsion (1965), clashed famously with Towne over the ending, ultimately shooting his own bleaker conclusion over the writer's objections. John Huston, a director of towering reputation himself (The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen), took a rare acting role as the film's villain.
Chinatown (1974) is a masterclass in noir storytelling, dripping with atmosphere, moral decay, and one of the most unforgettable performances of Jack Nicholson’s career. He plays J.J. “Jake” Gittes, a slick, cynical private detective who stumbles into a web of corruption, deceit, and family horror beneath the sun-bleached surface of 1930s Los Angeles. Nicholson is magnetic (charming, sharp, increasingly haunted) as he peels back layer after layer of lies, only to find there’s no clean way out. His performance anchors the film with wit, weariness, and a growing sense of dread. Roman Polanski (views on him aside) directs with icy precision, crafting a world where power corrupts absolutely and innocence is devoured by greed. The screenplay by Robert Towne is razor-sharp (Up there with the best) layered with irony, historical weight, and dialogue that feels both natural and poetic. Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score underscores every twist with melancholy and menace, becoming a character in its own right. The story (centered on water rights, land grabs, and generational sin) follows classic noir beats, so it may feel “par for the course” in structure. But it’s executed with such brilliance, such emotional and thematic depth, that it transcends genre. And that final line lands like a gut punch, one of the bleakest, most resonant endings in cinema. Flawless in craft, unforgettable in tone. A dark, brilliant film that gets under your skin and stays there. Not just a great mystery, but a devastating portrait of a city (and a man) powerless against the rot at the core.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 1974 | Watched: 2025-12-01
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Roman Polanski: The Pianist (2002)
More with Jack Nicholson: The Shining (1980) · One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
More mystery: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · One Way or Another (1975)
