One of the most well-loved film noir classics, Chinatown appears on best film lists year after year. Released in 1974, directed by Roman Polanski and produced by Paramount uber-meister Robert Evans, Chinatown was instrumental in securing the long repute of its stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston.Nicholson is Jake ‘J.J’ Gittes, a private investigator hired to spy on Hollis Mulwray, the chief engineer for the New York water department, which has become shrouded in intrigue and scandal. Amid the revelations inspired by the investigation, Gittes must disentangle the real identities of his apparent clients and ultimately deal with developments far beyond the wrangling of a local political scandal. Polanski himself appears in the famous cameo as a flick-knife-wielding thug who slits Gittes’ nose. Containing one of cinema’s most dramatic and moving closing scenes, the dark nights of Chinatown resonate long after the credits roll.A hotshot lawyer and a beautiful and mysterious blonde, Nicholson and Dunaway are electric as the enchanted pair for whom the underbelly of underhand dealings is almost destined to fail. This Paramount classic was a labour of love for Robert Evans and Roman Polanski and the multi-layered story and psychological drama was a critical hit.
Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and 7 Golden Globes, it won Oscars for best writing and Original screenplay for Robert Towne’s inspired script. It also picked up a large handful of globes for Polanski, Towne, Evans and Nicholson.
Debates over the music for Chinatown are well documented. It obviously paid off as Jerry Goldsmith, drafted in at the eleventh hour to rewrite it, created one of the most haunting and spine-tingling movie music scores ever.
Now remastered and digitally enhanced, Chinatown is a must for any fan of big gun casts perfecting beautiful performances.
Chinatown is available to buy from 5th of November from Paramount Home Entertainment