Kris and Adam Discuss AFI’s Top 100: Chinatown

Adam Daroff is an old friend of mine who currently works and lives in LA as an editor of film and TV. We are both finishing off the American Film Institute's Top 100 and writing joint reviews and thoughts as we go. You can read his response at his blog, I Am A Blog

Chinatown

Note: Roman Polanski gets no love from me. Any praise for the movie and his direction should not be taken as praise for him personally.

The Context

Almost every movie on the AFI Top 100 from the 1970s is made by members of what has been dubbed New Hollywood – Francis Ford Coppolla, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorcese, Roman Polanski, Michael Cimino. Some of these names are legendary, some are infamous, some continue to make notable movies but are not household names, and some are largely forgotten, but their impact is still felt. Their films are approaching 40 years old, but even today many of them still evoke feelings of discovery and inspiration not unlike the first time I read Nietzsche at age 15 (admit it, we all went through a Nietzsche phase, and if you've ever said “Fuck you, mom,” it was probably while under his spell). Filmmakers were experimenting with new ideas, new freedoms and ever-expanding budgets. It was something of a renaissance, I've always wished I could have been there as it happened.

Everybody was trying new things during these years, but Chinatown stands out as a new take on something old. The same way Apocalypse Now demonstrates Joseph Conrad's continued relevance by putting his story Heart of Darkness in a modern setting, Chinatown reinvigorates the entire genre of film noir by keeping its 1930s setting and tone but by being more honest about how such a story would have played out than films had previously been allowed. The sex is sexier, the twists are twistier, the violence is more violent and the nihilistic protagonist is even more nihilistic – that is, until he realizes what's actually at stake in this case.

However, Polanski never allows his newfound freedom descend into licentiousness, and the most luscious part of Chinatown remains the atmosphere. Most revisionist noir I've seen get carried away in following tropes and stereotypes, filmmaking by numbers. If you've seen an episode of Boardwalk Empire you know what I mean - “Hey, people were more racist!” “Hey, people said 'dame' and 'broad' a lot!” “Hey, everyone spoke in either elaborate metaphors or pedantic truisms!” It is very easy to get carried away with making a period film, rather than creating a world for that period film. That's where Chinatown excels – every character is a real person in a real environment, not a stock character to lend it period-specific credentials.

The Film

Part of what's so great about Chinatown is how it slowly reveals what it's about, so a plot summary would do it disservice. Suffice to say Jake Gittes has an amoral swagger that has served him well as a PI, and Evelyn Mulwary wants what's nicest even if it's not what's best. Both have rather large fish to fry. Intrigue ensues.

Probably the most gripping part, and the thing that makes Chinatown truly worth watching, is its ending. I won't say anything specific, but at the moment where Jake realizes exactly what has just happened and that this is how the story really ends, you feel the impact it has on him. Here's a guy who's never been phased by anything in his life, but he honestly never saw this coming, and even if he did he never expected to let it impact him like it does. This one scene is some of the best acting Jack Nicholson has ever done and the best directing Roman Polanski has ever done. Watch it for this one scene.

Now, my biggest pet peeve in film is anything that takes you out of the moment. Polanski has a very self-serving cameo as a gangster guarding the waterworks. Here's what that scene did for my enjoyment of the film: “Oh man, what's going to happen? Hey, that's a young Roman Polanski! Wait, why does an LA gangster have a Polish accent? And why does he keep calling Jack Nicholson 'kitty'? Crap, he just cut him, something important just happened but I was too distracted to understand why!” A minor complaint, but probably emblematic of the invincibility Polanski was feeling at the time.

Comments: Roman Polanski is a contemptible human being and if I ran a studio I would outright refuse to fund or distribute any of his films. But movies like this remind you why he was, and continues to be, such a big deal.

Deserves to be on Top 100: Yes.

Inspired: Early Coen Brothers, no doubt. I got the same feeling watching this film that I got from Blood Simple and Barton Fink.