Chinatown

He nose you know!

Chinatown is directed by Roman Polanski and written by Robert Towne. It stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez and John Hillerman. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by John A. Alonzo.

Private investigator J.J. Gittes (Nicholson) is working on an adultery case but quickly finds himself embroiled in murder and corruption.

The gathering of Polanski, Towne, Nicholson and Robert Evans (producer) put their respective skills together to craft one of the most lauded neo-noir films of all time. It's a searing picture awash with the staples of the film noir and gumshoe detective movies that graced cinema in the 40s and 50s. From the characterisations (suspicious femmes - mouthy coppers - s...

Great.

I can't say much about Roman Polanski because I feel I've seen too little of his work to make a more global analysis: I have only seen The Ninth Gate, The Pianist and, now, this film. It's not much but the truth is that they are three films that I really liked, and about which I have a very good opinion. This film is very good, fitting into a style that we can call neo-noir, insofar as its visual aesthetic is heavily inspired by noir, with the caveats that are due, as it is a color film and not black and white. Polanski is an attentive and meticulous director, who provides the audience with quality work, in which every detail has been thought of.

With a story set in San Francisco during the 1930s, the film is very simil...

I think this might be my favourite role from Faye Dunaway. She is "Evelyn", a woman who suspects that her husband "Hollis" (Darrell Zwerling) is playing away from home. She engages the services of the cynical PI "Gittes" (Jack Nicholson) and pretty soon people are dead and he is embroiled in an internecine story of adultery, corruption and manipulation that proves pretty perilous for a detective who is working with one women he suspects is being a bit frugal with the truth and another whose identity he is desperately struggling to discover. Nicholson is also on super form, his performance is natural and engaging with a solid chemistry between his and Dunaway adding a richness to this rather quirky plot. Roman Polanski has assembled a strong...