“Somebody went to a lot of trouble here, and I want to find out, lawsuit or no lawsuit. I’m not the one who’s supposed to be caught with his pants down.”
The word “classic” gets thrown around a lot. Everybody has their own list. I get that. Whenever someone starts listing films from the last year or so, I just smile and take it with a grain of salt. Because I know they don’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t know how many years it takes to be a classic. Is it 10 … 20 … or even 30 years? Well, how about 50 for a nice round number? The film has certainly stood the test of time. That’s one of those things you can’t say about a film under a decade or two old.
Chinatown (1974)
“Look, I do matrimonial work. It’s my medium. When a wife tells me that she’s happy her husband is cheating on her, it runs contrary to my experience.”
Jack Nicholson’s career has been decades of a man who is constantly redefining himself. Few actors have created as many memorable roles; among them has to be Jake Gittes. This Raymond Chandler-styled character first appeared here in the Roman Polanski film noir Chinatown. The feel of Chinatown was far more effective in 1974 than it is today. Unfortunately the style has been done to death and often with disastrously horrid results. Still, in 1974, Polanski was able to create an effective atmosphere and use it not just for style but as a place to tell an engaging story. Chinatown takes you to a Los Angeles that simply no longer exists. He utilized many locations that were even in 1974 on the verge of disappearing forever. Perhaps one of the reasons that the style has never been reproduced quite so successfully since is that Chinatown was made at just the right time. The last dying embers of the Los Angeles between the wars are caught on film, making Chinatown a somewhat historical event in itself.
No one will argue that this is a solid cast. Jack Nicholson had not yet established himself to this point, and he admits that Chinatown went a long way in the start of that for him. I’m not much of a fan of Faye Dunaway, and I did not enjoy her at all in this film. She tries far too hard to walk in the shadow of the Golden Age actresses, so that it becomes almost ridiculous to watch. She attempts with the turn of her head or a puff of a smoke to remind us of Lauren Bacall or Greta Garbo, but it’s mere play acting, and obvious play acting at that. Perry Lopez is solid as Jake’s friend/nemesis cop Escobar. He holds his own even when going toe to toe with Nicholson, and that’s never been an easy task. John Huston is hardly in the film at all as the ultimate bad guy, but his presence dominates the piece. This was truly an unforgettable role for the actor known mostly for his direction efforts. The actors, for the most part, fit their roles well, only adding to the atmosphere Polanski fills every frame with. This is an excellent film to watch if you are interested in the subtle nuances that combine to carry the audience to another time and place.
With all this said, Chinatown is not anything close to a great film. There are many flaws that keep it from crossing over that threshold. The pacing is tiresome. The film often bogs down in terribly clichéd dialog. The running time is too long, and it suffers from uneven editing. This likely explains why the film was good enough to be nominated for 11 Academy Awards but take home only one. The film has a lot going for it and is more than worth a second or even third look, but time has given the film a classic status that is not completely deserved. As Maxwell Smart would say: “Missed it by that much.”
Jake Gittes is a Chandler-style detective with all of the trappings. From the office to the secretary and the cop friend, Gittes is a cliché. He appears to specialize in tracking down extramarital affairs. When he’s hired to keep an eye on a rich millionaire, the subject turns up dead, and maybe it wasn’t his wife at all who hired him. Gittes now must investigate to save his own hide. His investigation leads him to a corrupt water department taking advantage of a manufactured drought. His client has a dark secret that only complicates Gittes’ efforts.
It’s very hard to separate the feelings I have for this film and not point out what a horrible person the director turned out to be, at first a tragic figure deserving of our sympathy, and then throwing all of that away. This should be part of a larger legacy. Instead it stands as a kind of exception.
The Two Jakes (1990)
“The city’s different at night: the air smells better, it’s harder to see that the oil rigs outnumber the palm tress; it’s almost like the good old days, at least the way I’d like to remember them. But stay in this business long enough and every street leads to a place you’d like to forget, every case brings back memories of what you should have done and what might have been, and every skirt reminds you of another woman … or, if you’ve got it bad enough, the same woman.”
This one only comes in Blu-ray.
I wanted to watch these movies back to back to try to get a feel for how they work together. The box art tells us: “Much has changed since we last saw Jake.” No truer words were ever spoken. Jack Nicholson is now a household name and a fixture at the Lakers games. Many a classic character has worn Jack’s sardonic smile since Chinatown. Perhaps it was the timing that was bad. Nicholson decided to resurrect Jake Gittes as his first role following his awesome turn as The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman. Perhaps it was the absence of Roman Polanski. Or maybe the time for Chinatown had come and gone.
Whatever it was, these films do not complement each other as much as I hoped. There are elements of The Two Jakes that are superior to Chinatown. The cast is better, and that’s saying something there. Eli Wallach, Harvey Keitel, and yes, even Meg Tilly were all outstanding in their roles. I was most impressed with Tilly, who seems to have done far too many bimbo roles in her career. Whoever’s choice it was for her to almost whisper her lines was a genius. Tilly’s voice is one of those that I just can’t stand. That almost nasal high-pitched slutty sound can’t be taken too seriously. I suspect it has kept her from many far better roles than she’s seen in the last 20 years. Too bad, really, because apparently she can act. Nicholson’s more straightforward shooting style gave this film a better pace and a touch more action, so it did not feel as slow as Chinatown.
However, Nicholson never did capture the pure atmosphere that Polanski gave us. Nicholson attempted to return to some of the original locations, but as he admits, a lot has changed. The script might be tighter, but it doesn’t have that final wow that Chinatown did. The Two Jakes simply ends. I understand that as an expected trilogy the story was intended to continue, but this movie gets too caught up in being a part of something else whether coming or been that it fails to identify itself for its own sake. Nicholson has some serious chops as a director, but he’d have been better served trying to carve out his own style. Imitation might be the best form of flattery, but bad imitation, as Warren Zevon used to say, “ain’t that pretty at all”.
It’s been almost 10 years, and Gittes is now part of a better social circle. He’s still in the same job with the same associates, but his ethics have earned him a bit of a reputation. As Jake says, “In the town of lepers I’m the one with the most fingers.” When Gittes is once again involved in an extramarital affair case, the clues lead him back to his own past … to Chinatown. This time it’s oil, not water, that drives the greedy men, and once again Gittes is right smack in the middle of things.
It’s ironic that infidelity leads to most of the problems in these films. I think Nicholson wanted so much to impart his own vision here that he forgot to remain faithful to the original. Certainly he was faithful to Gittes because, after all, who knows Jake better than Jack. But somewhere along the way something went just a little awry. “I don’t care whose fault it is, his, hers, or the milkman’s.”
Video
Both titles have had their original aspect ratios altered somewhat for modern television presentations. There was nothing “sacred” really changed for me, so I’m pretty OK with that. Since only the first film is in 4K, I’ll restrict this audio/visual report to that film. The film was shot on 35mm, so is native 4K. There has also been restoration here, and it’s quite nice. This was the last of the films to look and feel like the “old Hollywood”, and it’s demonstrated with the saturated colors that are the product of the 70’s film stock. Grain remains, although I suspect there was some digital cleaning, which annoys me to no end. The organic atmosphere of the film remains. HDR improves both the vitality of the color and the strong contrast. Flesh tones stand out for me here. Close-ups of both leads’ faces provide remarkable detail and reference color. Vintage cars and decor have a nice level of texture that only adds to the atmosphere. Black levels are deep and offer some finely rendered shadow definition.
Audio
The Dolby Tru-HD 5.1 track is a wonderful tribute to the recently late Jerry Goldsmith. This is one of his best scores, and this new mix does a marvelous job in its presentation. Little else outside of dialog matters. Goldsmith added the absolute perfect touch to complete the film’s effective style. I never saw Chinatown in the theater, but I doubt that 1974 systems could match what you get here. It’s obvious somebody knew what was important when remixing this soundtrack.
Special Features
The extras are found on the UHD disc. The Two Jakes disc contains just the HD version of that film.
A State Of Mind – Author Sam Wason on Chinatown: (15:56) He wrote a book covering the film called The Big Goodbye: Chinatown And The Last Years Of Hollywood. He gives us a very romanticized account of the film, and it’s a rather pleasant dip of nostalgia with some educated insight into the process.
Chinatown Memories: (5:43): Howard Koch was the film’s First AD and offers a couple of nice anecdotes.
The Trilogy That Never Was: (2:07) Back to Sam Wason and a look at the plans for a trilogy that ended with two films. He gives us some insight into that original plan.
Water And Power: (1:17:45) This lengthy documentary looks at the real-life L.A. River project and the history and evolution. There were real-life scandals here, and we even get to hear from the families of the persons involved. It ends with a look at the more recent “River Wars”, and it’s a little ironic to see the events that mirror the film somewhat. It’s in three parts but best played as a single feature.
The original Blu-ray release features are also ported over.
Final Thoughts:
After reading this, you might be under the impression I’m on the fence for this one. Nothing could be further from the truth. Chinatown is a very good movie, and your collection could only benefit from its inclusion. It’s just not the “one of the best films of all time” kind of movie time has often made it. This is a respectable version of the film, and it does hold up well to the nearly 50 years since its release. Some will chide me for daring to point out that the films do have their flaws. “Do you know the expression let sleeping dogs lie?”
