Now let’s take a look at the movie "Chinatown". This is a movie that can go down in history. It was released in 1974 and won the best picture, best director, best actor and 11 Oscar nominations in the second year. , But unfortunately, in the same year, he encountered the shocking "Godfather 2", and finally only won the well-deserved 47th Oscar-Best Original Screenplay Award. Let me say that if this "Chinatown" is not released in the same year as "The Godfather 2", one year earlier or one year later, its popularity, evaluation and added honor are estimated to be comparable to "The Godfather 2." I think this sentence is enough to show how much I like this movie.
I don't want to repeat the plot of the film too much. Obviously, "Chinatown" is a detective film to cover up the essence of film noir. By investigating extramarital affairs to criticize successful wealthy people who are not subject to all laws and ethics in the city, they acted indiscriminately, and satirized social injustice, police corruption, and political conspiracy. "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." The saying goes, "We don't do anything." (Gittes replied when facing a question about work in Chinatown) These few words are the finishing touch, highlighting the police's attitude to Chinatown." "Open one eye and close one eye" attitude, and this is exactly what the title "Chinatown" means.
Speaking of photography style, as far as I know, due to the great success of "The Godfather", the producer ordered the lab to also give the film some bloody colors, but the style of the final film is not only very similar to "The Godfather", It also adds a cold style, which is very Polanski. The costume design and art design are also very brilliant. The retro style of the 1930s in Los Angeles is very nice to me, and it is very beautiful on the screen. The performance really has nothing to say, Jack Nicholson’s performance really conquered me.
The overall style of "Chinatown" is dark, and this almost pathologically dark style also continued to the end of the film, and this kind of justice could not be done, the woman died tragically on the street, lost everything and became the victim of the plot and the villain. Obviously, it is more impactful than the happy ending originally written by the screenwriter, and it can bring more psychological shock, and the theme can be sublimated.
Photography, performance, costume design, art design, sound effects, even if the director is perfect, without the support of a good script, it must be bad. The biggest support for "Chinatown" also happens to come from the dramatic tension and the three-dimensional character design of the script. The Oscar for Best Original Screenplay was not blown out.
It is undeniable that the script is very brilliant. In my opinion, its greatness lies not only in the twists and turns and suspense of the plot, but also in its detailed hints, such as the meaning of the title I just mentioned. And this kind of detailed hints is not only reflected in the lines, but also shines on the shots. Each shot has no unnecessary interference points of interest, and there are many detailed hints. The more prominent ones are the long shots of Gitttes's first trip to Murray’s house about the pond and then lead to the salt water and finally the glasses; the salt water left in the lungs of corpses drowned in the Danshui River; the tuna eaten at Cross’s house and the nursing home The clever layout of the tuna flag echoes. These have laid the groundwork for the development of the plot.
The film belongs to film noir. Not only does it conform to the black and white outline of film noir, but also that the action and thrilling scenes of the whole film take place at night until Gittes loses Mrs. Murray, allowing the treacherous villain Cross to escape the law. , And asked him to take away the child born of incest between him and his daughter, and the film reached its climax under the embarrassing ending! Shocking!
Regardless of the point of view of the film, whether from acting, directing, or character design, the plot arc highlights Gittes, the "victim" of the plot surrounded by loneliness, and the evil reflected in this loneliness is the ultimate. The goal, the film is very dark, very obscure, typical Polanski!
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