CHINATOWN

When Los Angeles private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's activities, he believes it's a routine infidelity case. Jake's investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray's sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn's father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.

YOUR FILM CLUB DETAILS

DATE: Tuesday 8th September

TIME: 6:00pm - 7:00pm

WHERE: ONLINE - ENTER ZOOM MEETING HERE

Meeting ID: 912 830 2834

Passcode: 1kwALd

ABOUT CHINATOWN (1974)

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Written By: Robert Towne

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

Running Time: 131 Minutes

Available to stream on Foxtel Now and SBS On Demand

IN JOHN’S WORDS

An extraordinary film.  1974 - the last film directed by Roman Polanski in the US before he fled to France. As bruised and cynical as the decade that produced it, this noir mystery/who-dunnit classic benefits from Robert Towne's brilliant screenplay, director Roman Polanski's steady hand, and wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.

In an era when Hollywood’s studio system was collapsing Jack Nicholson was on the rise. From his first scene stealing entry in Easy Rider (1969) he’d gone to lead roles in Five Easy Pieces (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971).

But it was Chinatown that made the world sit up and take notice. It was Chinatown that turned Nicholson into not just an another lead actor. It showed his extraordinary skill and intuition and released for the first time his incredible screen charisma. He’s in every scene of this film and he fills the frame with that heady mixture of knowing charm and explosive energy - now an all too familiar Nicholson trait.

Faye Dunaway’s scenes with Nicholson are electric. So too are all the performances in this film from the legendary John Huston to Polanski himself in a minor but crucial role. This a director’s film, an actors film and a producer’s film.

Written by Robert Towne directed by Roman Polanski it was released in 1974 but little if anything about this movie has dated, particularly Nicholson’s charismatic performance.