Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
"How to Stop a 'Nosebleed'" Deeply atmospheric and mysterious. Jack Nicholson is great as a "nosy" private detective. He is really not prepared for the information Faye Dunaway's character lays on him. It is unthinkable, horiffic and chilling--a conclusion not many would easily jump to. Beautifully directed by Mr. Polanski who has a very bit part in the movie.
Very Good, but not Great
Pros Fantastic melange of nostalgia, feel-good, period-piece, proto-noir, detective, horror, drama and suspense movies - one wishes more movie makers would riff like this instead of making the type of hidebound, genre-tight movies that utterly fail to spark the imagination of the viewer. Shines with intelligence, beauty and craftsmanship of the highest order - the film-makers really poured their hearts and souls into making this movie and it can't but help rub off on the viewer. Tucker,... more info
A crime noir has never looked this good... Finally; a crime noir that works. After watching quite a few lackluster film noirs I decided to revisit `Chinatown' to see if it still held up as the greatest film noir of all time and, quite honestly, it does. Polanski gets everything right with this one, creating a film that is stunning, captivating, dark and brooding while always maintaining a level of hope that helps glue the audience to their seats (even if that hope is crushed in the devastating finale). There are few films that have been able to... more info
Great, although painful, movie It took me a while to get this movie. I ordered a "like new" version and it was filled with scratches and was unwatchable. It took a little finagling to get a better copy, but it ended up working out. I would've ended up giving it 5 stars had the disc be in "like new" condition. I really like this movie, although "the nose" scene (so I don't ruin in for anyone who hasn't seen it, but specific enough for the people who have seen it to understand) was incredibly disturbing, the performances of Jack... more info
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