"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."

Private Investigator Jake (J.J.) Gittes accepts what appears to be a regular assignment to catch a cheating husband with his lady friend. However, Jake only succeeds in opening up a web of deceit involving senior figures at the Los Angeles water department in the midst of a drought. The lady at the centre of the allegations is also holding something back that will perhaps piece together the murders and lies that surround this unusual investigation.

"You're a very nosy fellow kitty cat. Huh? You know what happens to nosy fellows? Huh? No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. They lose their noses."


skyjude review
I just love this film and get wrapped up in it's superb storyline each time I watch. But then what is there not to like? This is as good a reinvention of the noir thriller as you will ever see. Perfect script, direction and acting combine to give one of the best films of the seventies. In my opinion this gives us screen legends Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in career best performances and they certainly provide one of the most memorable scenes in movie history to boot. A great selection of lines support an intricate and beautifully thought out script presented faultlessly by Roman Polanski. A visit to Chinatown is in order for all.

Top 5 Reasons for Watching Chinatown

[5] Jake kicks butt
Jake sets about Mulvihill in ruthless fashion. Not your average movie fight scene - this is a realistic rumble that captures Jake's character and strength perfectly.

[4] The script
A near perfect script combining noir elements with action, drama, politics and romance interspersed with some cracking dialogue. Robert Towne's Oscar winning screenplay gives us a superbly crafted story that twists and turns as we closely follow Jake's investigations exposing corruption and lies wherever he looks.

[3] Jake's nose
The shots of Jake's bandaged nose are as iconic in movie history as those of Pinocchio and Cyrano de Bergerac. Funny to look at and even funnier to explain how it happened as Jake wryly comments to Loach - "Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick".

[2] Jack Nicholson
The legendary actor can count several Oscar wins and nominations among his many achievements, but it is perhaps this role that best showcases his sublime acting talent. As Jake Gittes, Nicholson brings alive the private investigators of old placing Gittes alongside such legends as Bogart's Sam Spade.

[1] Evelyn reveals all
In a script that we watch unravel as if alongside Jake Gittes, we also share his shock at Evelyn's confession. We're shocked too at the brutal manner in which Jake slaps Evelyn into admitting all in an unforgettable movie moment.


Chinatown quotes

Jake Gittes: Mulvihill, what are you doing here?
Claude Mulvihill: They shut my water off. What's it to you?
Jake Gittes: How'd you find out about it? You don't drink it, you don't take a bath in it. They wrote you a letter? But then you'd have to be able to read.

Jake Gittes: 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 ought to be able to hold on to your water for you.

Evelyn Cross Mulwray: Hollis seems to think you're an innocent man.
Jake Gittes: Well, I've been accused of a lot of things before, but never of that.

Jake Gittes: Tell me - you still putting Chinamen in gaol for spitting in the laundry?
Lieutenant Lou Escobar: You're a little behind the times Jake - they use steam irons now.

Morty: Middle of a drought and the water commissioner drowns. Only in L.A.

Jake Gittes: How do you like them apples?

Jake Gittes: When a wife tells me that she is happy her husband is cheating on her, it runs contrary to my experience.

Jake Gittes: I goddamn near lost my nose. And I like it. I like breathing through it.

Noah Cross: Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.

Detective Loach: What happened to your nose Gittes? Someone slammed a bedroom window in it?
Jake Gittes: Nope. Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick.

Lieutenant Lou Escobar: You must really think I'm stupid, don't you Gittes?
Jake Gittes: I don't think about it that much but give me a day or two and I'll get back to you.

Jake Gittes: You're dumber than you think I think you are.

Evelyn Cross Mulwray: She's my daughter.
Jake Gittes: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Cross Mulwray: She's my sister. She's my daughter. My sister, my daughter.
Jake Gittes: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Cross Mulwray: She's my sister and my daughter.

Noah Cross: I don't blame myself. You see Mr Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything.



Production company: Paramount Pictures