Chinatown (1974)

[The Firecracker]

If you ask the question "what was the best American film of the 70's" most people would say Godfather or Taxi Driver as their answer. Not me. Chinatown runs circles around those two overly indulgent movies.

I was surprised this has yet to have a thread here. I'd be interested in hearing what everybody's thoughts on the film are.

To me it is probably the best American movie of recent history (past 45 years), along with Little Big Man and Bonnie and Clyde.

Even if Polanski is a rapist piece of shit, there is no denying his talent.

[dave jenkins]

I like this film better than anything Francis Fraud Crap-ola ever made, and better than Scorcese's 70s pictures (with the exception, maybe, of New York, New York). It's got a good story, a fantastic score, great cinematography, and of course, bravura performances (I fault the art direction a bit: everything looks too new, too unused, like we're looking at displays in a museum). Nicholson is great, Dunaway was never better, Burt Young is Burt Young, and Huston is . . . well, the bit where he says , "Mr. Gittes, I drink your milkshake," always gives me goosebumps. Easily the best Hollywood film in its year of release.

[Noodles_SlowStir]

Definitely what Dave said.  Not only is it one of the great films, it's also one of my favorites.  As mentioned, from opening credits to ending credits, it's a film that approaches perfection on a level that most can't even imagine.  When I watch it,  I always consider how superior it is to The Godfather Part II.  Not surprisingly, the academy definitely blew that one as well.  Besides Huston and Young, a lot of the other supporting performances are pretty nice too (Diane Ladd, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover and James Hong).  Had a chance to see it on the big screen as well  .       

[geoman-1]

I think I would include this film in my top 10 of all times. A true classic.
And I especially loved the soundtrack that created that ambiance in the
film.

[Tucumcari Bound]

I like this film better than anything Francis Fraud Crap-ola ever made, and better than Scorcese's 70s pictures (with the exception, maybe, of New York, New York). It's got a good story, a fantastic score, great cinematography, and of course, bravura performances (I fault the art direction a bit: everything looks too new, too unused, like we're looking at displays in a museum). Nicholson is great, Dunaway was never better, Burt Young is Burt Young, and Huston is . . . well, the bit where he says , "Mr. Gittes, I drink your milkshake," always gives me goosebumps. Easily the best Hollywood film in its year of release.

Francis Ford Crapola? You're nuts.

[The Firecracker]

Francis Ford Crapola? You're nuts.

Francis FRAUD Crapola, If you please.

[PowerRR]

One of the best of 70's cinema, for sure.

[dave jenkins]

This film would be merely great if it weren't for Polanski's mise-en-scene, which takes the whole thing to a higher level of art. Unlike American directors, he tends not to use many establishing shots. Instead, he jumps right into a scene, forcing viewers to pay strict attention.

Here is a rare example of an establishing shot, one of only a handful in the film.


Early on, Polanski establishes his use of depth-of-field.


Here he combines depth-of-field with a character POV shot.


Character POV shots are infrequent, Polanski preferring over-the-shoulder ones that enable us to see what Nicholson's character sees from the side (we aren't the character, but we are with him). Polanski never follows these with reaction shots of Nicholson: he lets us make up our own minds about things.




When using characters in a depth-of-field shot, Polanski likes to cover three planes whenever possible: foreground, middle, and back.


He is not, post-Antonioni, above the occasional tableau:


He can also produce a tableau with impressive depth-of-field:


A three-plane depth-of-field shot with two actors: Nicholson's reflection in the background glass completes the triad.


Here is an excellent example of P's compositional technique in a single-take scene. John Hillerman, in the foreground, is looking at Nicholson, middle, who is looking at another man, back. The axis is right-to-left.


Hillerman crosses to frame left, creating a triangle that speaks to the conflict generating in the scene.


The triangle collapses; tension mounts.


Tension is diffused, and a new alignment is established, left to right. The new character has supplanted Nicholson and is now in the middle position; Nicholson, about to exit behind elevator doors, is now in the background.


Symmetry is all: bye bye for now.

[dave jenkins]

The Leone connection:

[dave jenkins]

Speaking of Leone, has it occurred to anyone else that Chinatown does for the PI film what OUATITW did for the Western? I've spotted allusions and even direct quotes to The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep.

[T.H.]

Great post, Jenkins. I'm going to have to revisit Chinatown in the next few days and watch with your comments directly in mind.

The "OUATITW of film noir" question you pose is very intriguing and to give an answer, I don't think it's quite the post-modern farewell/love letter to the genre. Like you said, the film is too pretty; and while I think it's one of the finer American movies I've seen, I think the fact that it's not filmed in B&W makes it void of that claim alone. Chinatown is also idiosyncratic in how it was made. It's almost if someone described the genre at length to Polanski and Towne and they said to themselves, "Yeah, I could do that". I don't think they necessary "blew up" and dissected the genre in the manner of Leone and co. I hope this post made some sense, it feels very awkward to me.

[titoli]

If you ask the question "what was the best American film of the 70's" most people would say Godfather or Taxi Driver as their answer.

Depending on their age. I don't know much about these questions, but I presume that in USA Star Wars would be a more likely contender for the Godafather. And is Taxi Driver that popular in the USA?

[dave jenkins]

The "OUATITW of film noir" question you pose is very intriguing and to give an answer, I don't think it's quite the post-modern farewell/love letter to the genre. Like you said, the film is too pretty; and while I think it's one of the finer American movies I've seen, I think the fact that it's not filmed in B&W makes it void of that claim alone. Chinatown is also idiosyncratic in how it was made. It's almost if someone described the genre at length to Polanski and Towne and they said to themselves, "Yeah, I could do that". I don't think they necessary "blew up" and dissected the genre in the manner of Leone and co. I hope this post made some sense, it feels very awkward to me.

I was careful not to mention "film noir" which I think is something of a myth; I had in mind the more specific category of the private detective film, of which there aren't all that many. As I said, I think there are definite references to PI films in Chinatown. The first visit to the Mulray house, for example, closely resembles Bogart's arrival at the Sternwood mansion at the beginning of The Big Sleep. There is even a couple shots of a car being washed (referencing the plot point in TBS having to do with the Sternwood's chauffeur), which has absolutely nothing to do with anything in Chinatown.

[T.H.]

I was careful not to mention "film noir" which I think is something of a myth; I had in mind the more specific category of the private detective film, of which there aren't all that many. As I said, I think there are definite references to PI films in Chinatown. The first visit to the Mulray house, for example, closely resembles Bogart's arrival at the Sternwood mansion at the beginning of The Big Sleep. There is even a couple shots of a car being washed (referencing the plot point in TBS having to do with the Sternwood's chauffeur), which has absolutely nothing to do with anything in Chinatown.

Sorry for the misinterpretation of your original question, but wouldn't Chinatown be more of a nod to Chandler than say the PI film? I certainly see the similarities and am familiar with the scenes in question, but I really don't have a suitable answer. I will need to look further into this subject as I don't see any other direct references to other PI films. Consider me stumped for now.

[The Firecracker]

And is Taxi Driver that popular in the USA?

Its canonization is a mystery to me.