Chinatown is the 1974 Roman Polanski classic, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Often referred to as a “perfect” movie, the film has stood the test of time and remains a beloved and much-studied story today. It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won one for best screenplay.
The film noir PI tale was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991. The American Film Institute named it the second-best mystery movie back in 2008. After this past weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony, it has yet to be seen which of this year’s nominees will last in the public consciousness the way Chinatown has. Here are ten scenes that have helped Chinatown stand the tests of time.
Politicians, Ugly Buildings, And More
It’s quite amazing to watch two actors, both at the top of their craft, face one another in a scene, and it all goes one step further when the scene is well written and the key to the overall story in the movie in which it appears. When Jack Nicholson’s, Jake Gittes, sits down with John Huston’s Noah Cross it is something to behold. When Cross tells Gittes to stay away from his daughter, don’t take advantage of her, that’s important, but it is when Huston talks of being old and respectable, saying, “Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough,” that the balance of power in the film overall comes to light.
Screw Like A…
Jake Gittes and his off-color joke do a lot of work in a very small amount of time. Not only are viewers further clued into Gittes’ history with Chinatown, but it also sets up the Detective’s first meeting with Evelyn, the key relationship in the film overall. They are both going to continue to surprise one another, put one another off, and turn up in unexpected places. What more could you ask of a scene that comes so early in the plot.
Prohibition
There’s a reason that the one Academy Award Chinatown earned was for its script. Robert Towne didn’t waste words, he always made them work for more than one thing.
When Detective Jake Gittes says, “When Mulvihill here was sheriff of Ventura County, the rum runners landed hundreds of tons of booze on the beach and never lost a drop. He oughta be able to hold on to your water for you,” he’s not only laying out the characters and the scene but the whole sordid history of power in the LA area.
Pillowtalk
It’s always a moment when the big bad PI finally falls for the femme fatale, so it’s no wonder when Jake Gittes and Evelyn finally fall into one another’s arms (after she tries to rebandage his nose) that the scene would be more than just the expected romantic connection. As Jake and Evelyn talk Evelyn tries to get Jake to open up about his traumatic and mysterious history with Chinatown. Why is the movie titled Chinatown? Perhaps it is because of this one conversation, and the way that it mirrors what’s to come in the movie itself.
The Rowboat
While key dialogue and great performance can certainly make a scene, sometimes its what we see on screen alone that makes a particular moment stand out in the mind of the audience That’s why Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in a rowboat, taking covert photographs of a philandering husband, sticks out in a movie full of classic and well put together scenes and moments. In a movie full of classic cars and fast fights this moment of slow, steady, secretive action stands out to the audience overall.
Name Game
Again we return to John Huston and Jack Nicholson (how could we not?). It’s supposed to be in the bag. Jake Gittes knows the truth, and the depravity of the powerful men surrounding his case and yet, it’s not enough. “You see, Mr. Gits, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place they are capable of … anything.” The line alone is enough to be devastating but, the fact that Huston, as Cross, deliberately mispronounces the detective’s name, he further highlights his power in the money-hungry corrupt land of LA.
My Nose
No one has ever sported a face bandage as well as Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. The white tape on his nose as Jake Gittes is almost as classic as the film itself. It’s especially telling when he draws attention to it, upon meeting with Evelyn.
“I goddamn near lost my nose,” he tells her. “And I like it. I like breathing through it.” This isn’t just an adultery case any longer, this is murder, and corruption and Jake knows it. More than that he wants Evelyn to know it, because she’s not scared enough, and that means she knows something.
Nose Cutting
While the look of the bandage on the nose of Jack Nicholson is classic, so is the scene in which he earns the injury itself. When investigating the city reservoir, after the death of Hollis Mulwray, Gittes is caught by the reservoir’s security chief and an unnamed accomplice. They warn Gittes off. “You’re a very nosy fellow, kitty cat. You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses.” How the scene was done, with a trick knife, was one of the most common questions Nicholson and director, Roman Polanski, received about the film.
My Sister, My Daughter
The big reveal comes when a desperate Gittes again goes to visit Evelyn who still knows more than she’s saying. After everything, nose injury included, Jake is no longer playing games. He slaps Evelyn in frustration, more than once, as he questions her about the mysterious girl upstairs. With each slap, Evelyn changes her answer. “Who is she?” Jake wants to know. “My sister. My daughter. My sister. My daughter.” She’s both. And Jake could never have seen that coming.
It’s Chinatown
Even if someone hasn’t seen the movie it’s almost impossible to find someone who hasn’t heard the film’s final line. “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.” The rug gets pulled out from under Gittes and the audience as the resolution and “happy” ending crashes around everyone. But, as this line reminds characters and viewers alike, everyone should have known what was coming.
