I didn't watch Chinatown. I experienced it. This film was composed to be seen on a big screen. Sure, the film plays well watching at home. But I was completely blown away by this presentation. The ziegfeld has secured a wonderful print. I love going to a Theatre like this. I don't have to worry about projection or sound quality. Add to all of this the $7.50 admission price (!) and I'm in 7th heaven!
Seeing this film again reminds me of what I don't like about most contempory films. Where today's films are almost all cut for the sake of pace, Chinatown has a deliberate pace. It's not single minded in it's editing. You get to savor the story as it unfolds. It like having a wonderful 5 star dinner. It makes today's films seem a lot like fast food.
Here's a link to the 3rd draft screenplay by Robert Towne:
http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/chinatown.txt
Here's Roger Ebert's review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000206/REVIEWS08/2060301/1023
And here's Rotten Tomatoes 100% rating!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chinatown/
2 comments:
The first time I saw chinatown I was maybe 14 or 15 yrs. old. All I remember is not really understanding what was going on. Being the simple minded child I was I couldn't follow the plot and link the clues together. In a word it was way over my head.
Later as an adult I came back to the film determined to figure it out. To solve the mystery along with Jake and get to the bottom of what was going on.
I can not remember ever being affected by a movie like I was by chinatown. As all the plot threads came together and the movie wound down to it's tragic fated end, I remember a feeling so intense it was like being sucker-punched in the gut! I had been made physicaly ill by the injustice and inhumanity I saw on that screen.
That feeling was the price I paid for a deeper understanding of film and it's affects on us and how a film can work on multiple levels and though tragic really provide a catharsis of aristotlian measure that sent you back out into society at large a better person for having purged your emotions.
Given the history of the making of chinatown it's one of those rare lucky accidents, akin to the making of Casablanca where the confluence of different people and ideas came togther to form a movie that was greater than the sum of it's parts.
Together Polanski, Towne, cast and crew crafted a film that will stand the test of time as long as there are living human beings willing to watch and listen and maybe learn a little about the human heart.
I love the way this film unravels. It really is a model for screenplay writers. It works on an intellectual and emotional level. And it has the right ending, something rarely allowed these days. Not every ending should be happy. Unfortunatly, evil does sometimes win the day. And I do want to make special mention of Jerry Goldsmith's score. He was an eleventh hour replacement but this did not effect the brillance of the score. It's one of his best. Goldsmith's scores range, for me, from good to excellent. If he really responded to the material, odds are you would wind up with an exceptional score. "Planet of the Apes", "Patton" and "Chinatown" are prime exsamples of his talent.
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