Wheez's Vintage Movie of the Week- Chinatown

In this series, a contributor, “The Wheez” (don’t ask about the origins of the name, no one really knows), suggests a vintage movie to be reviewed by yours truly.  These films are classics and shouldn’t be forgotten, so, hopefully, through this series you’ll remember some films you haven’t seen in decades or learn of some new classics to check out.  This week’s choice sets the gold standard for “who done it?” films:  Chinatown.  Starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway (both received Oscar nominations), this film follows a private eye who stumbles upon a city conspiracy involving millions of dollars and murder while investigating a claim of adultery.  It is extraordinary and reminds us that no level of technology or quick cuts can replace a clever, well-told story.

The first thing that struck me about this film as I sat down to watch it was its direction.  Say what you will about Roman Polanski and his personal life (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go to any news site and you’ll probably see some headlines about it), but the man can use a camera!  As I watched, I marveled at how every shot, every frame is so carefully crafted to be visually interesting.  Polanski doesn’t throw away frames or use a shot as a means of getting from A to B. No, every shot seems to be calculated to please the eye like a good photograph.  Further, he is clever in setting up many of his shots, sometimes going minutes without needing a cut.  While this style does tend to slow the film down, it’s just so magnificent to witness that, frankly, I don’t care.

Undoubtedly, the excellent acting allows for these rather long shots that Polanski prefers.  Both Nicholson and Dunaway are so adept at telling a story with their face and eyes, that often, their close-ups are more interesting than anything Polanski could cut away to.  They both do a remarkable job and deliver performances that truly allow for Polanski’s style choices to be so effective.

Great acting and direction aside, though, this story truly elevates the film to the plateau it resides upon.  A habit of mine whenever I watch a film is to try to figure out the major turning points (or beats) and see if they follow the standard structure for screenwriting (many of them do, especially the newest films).  While this may sound unoriginal, it just reflects the fact that there are principles to good storytelling, but I digress. As I watched Chinatown, I tried to find these moments, but, there are so many turning points, so many twists, that I gave up about two-thirds of the way through (This isn’t to say it strays completely from the structure, just that it packs a lot of punch into each scene or beat).  It really is incredible how convoluted the story gets without completely losing the audience, which proves to be perfectly fitting in proving the theme that Gittes (Nicholson) states early in the film: “Sometimes it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.”  As Gittes delves deeper into his investigation and uncovers more corruption, it often seems that all parties would have been better off if Gittes never even bothered.  This sense snowballs all the way to the end, which contains an excellent and fitting resolve.

As exciting as that story may sound, though, it’s not an edge-of-your-seat thriller (although, if it were made today, I’m sure it would be!).  Rather, Polanski focuses on good filmmaking and highlights the film’s great assets:  the screenplay and acting.  If it were made today, I conjecture there’d be at least twice as many cuts (maybe three or four times) and there would be more of a sense of foreboding infused into the film either through sound mixing (you know, good ole ominous tones) or story changes (and I really hope it would be through sound seeing as how this film won best original screenplay).  That being said, the technology used to make this film clearly isn’t on par with today’s technology and it is evident at times (but hardly noticeably). Anyway, it’s a vintage movie! Are you not going to drink a vintage port wine because the label’s outdated? (If not, please mail it to me. My address is…)  Along the same lines of the older technology, the film comes from a different era of filmmaking.  It has a slower pace (especially compared to films in its genre today) and doesn’t grip you through tricky editing.  However, as with most things, film and the mystery/thriller genre have evolved to become the fast-paced, intense beast it is today. Even if it were made today, though, I wouldn’t want to see it changed because that would mean changing Polanski’s direction, which truly is the work of an artist.

What many of today’s films lack, especially in the mystery/thriller genre, is the excellent, original story of Chinatown.  It truly is great filmmaking at its best and, that, in my humble opinion, cannot be replaced by any level of technology or modern editing. I highly recommend seeing this film, especially if you fancy yourself a bit of a film connoisseur.

Scale: 

1-  Lots of Better Movies at Blockbuster   

2-  Might Be Worth Renting

3-  Rent It When You Get to It

4-  A Must Rent, at some point

5-  Put It in Your Queue NOW!

My Rating: 4.5


If you like this, check out:  L.A. Confidential (Two-Disc Special Edition) or Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Widescreen Edition)

Buy Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition)