The problem with listing these 20 movies is that I’m building a list of movies I want to see again. But I guess that’s not such a bad thing.
With Chinatown, we get an enthralling mystery and one of the best examples of what a strong script will do for a movie.
Chinatown (1974)
directed by Roman Polanski
Chinatown, a wonderful movie, is an example of what a script can do for a film.
It’s like finding the right music at a party. Someone feels compelled to dance, then another and another.
Soon, everyone’s up dancing. And dancing well.
In Chinatown, just about every artist is dancing their damnedest because the script has pulled them onto the floor. Director, actors, lighting people, costume designers … they’re all performing at their highest level.
It’s Robert Towne’s script that has done this.
One of Roman Polanski’s great talents is creating mood and few films do it so well and so quickly as the opening of Chinatown. I can’t think of many movies I would watch simply to see the opening credits but the look and the marvellous music of the introductory credit sequence is just so good with its period lettering and sepia tone (which carries through the movie), that you’re hooked even before the movie has presented its opening shot.
Modelling itself on the film noir style (particularly films like Howard Hawks’ movie The Big Sleep), the film’s mystery is created by presenting the story through the eyes of detective Jake Gittes, the Jack Nicholson character. We know what he knows, we’re puzzled by what he’s puzzled by, we’re misled by what misleads him. In fact, just as Bogart was in just about every scene of The Big Sleep, Nicholson is in just about every scene in Chinatown, either as a participant or as an observer.
But the film isn’t dependent on Nicholson. Faye Dunaway is perfectly cast as the enigmatic, and troubled, Evelyn Mulwray. It’s hard to imagine anyone else but Dunaway in that role. The movie is also bolstered by brilliant supporting performances, particularly John Huston as Noah Cross.
I also love the leisurely way the movie unfolds. Unlike the quick cuts and thrumming soundtrack of most current movies, Polanski takes his time. And it works so well. This may be the reason why it works. You’re seduced by the mood, and become involved with the characters, and thus the story.
Chinatown is a great, fascinating movie that illustrates the importance of beginning with a great script.
See: 20 Movies – The List
Chinatown (the trailer)
