In 1974, the American film "Chinatown" directed by Roman Polanski was released and was nominated for 11 Oscar nominations including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay in 1975, and finally won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film is called a classic of neo-noir.
Chinatown is the most perfect example of a neo-noir film. Its time frame is the late 1930s (1937 to be exact), but it is a new noir because it offers keener, more contemporary psychological insights into its characters than noir films made in that era.
Based on the "Owens Valley Rape", the film has a complex plot, strong nostalgia, and the suspenseful atmosphere inherent in detective films.
Jack's interference hastened Evelyn's tragic demise.
Undoubtedly, this wonderful suspenseful script culminates in Evelyn Mulwray: She's my sister AND my daughter! The rape and incest plot brings the film back to human nature and desire. The hero's signature smoking action, deep eyes, the heroine's charming posture, camera arrangement and plot settings all have a cruel sense of realism.
Murder and incest hardly matter to a visionary like Noah Cross! (“The future, Mr. 'Gits,' )
Noah is played by John Huston, the writer and director of “The Maltese Falcon,” one of the hallmarks of the beginning of the American noir genre.
"Forget it, Jack, this is Chinatown."
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
Looking back at the end, Polanski made an alternative neo-noir film, not only full of suspicion and criticism, but with a gunshot, showing a dirty and dark city, exposing corrupt and sinful hearts.
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