Chinatown

Cherchez la femme. Polanski’s grasp of the excellent and well-thought out screenplay is a joy to watch. Sun-parched L.A. is stifling with a heavy and paranoid atmosphere, especially when no water comes out of the faucet. I’m not a big fan of Nicholson, but here he really is excellent and gives the hero the necessary authenticity. The crushing finale is just the icing on the cake. In the 70s this must have almost been a revolution in cinema. Bad for the glass. (20/03/2013)

The peak of 1970s grim noir crime investigation with the grand Jack Nicholson, who – apart from delivering a standard high-quality performance – can also add another notch in his belt representing more actresses in his favorite bed. Apart from the amazing Jack and the gloomy atmosphere, it’s a standard film noir. (17/08/2016)

In the mid-70s, director Polanski decided to revive the long-dead noir genre, thus becoming the founder of the so-called neo-noir genre, which found numerous followers and supporters in the 70s and 80s. Chinatown is the flagship of its category, and one must admire the technical aspects of the film even years later, whether it is careful direction, music, or - above all - precise camera work. However, I have a problem with the film itself. The plot and screenplay failed to captivate me. Although Chinatown is considered one of Polanski's best films, I prefer other films in his body of work. Those who enjoy charismatic detectives, fateful women, and dramatic atmosphere will enjoy this film, but I prefer genre classics that are 2-3 decades older. Perhaps I also have a slight issue with the slow pace and the film's runtime. Overall impression: 70%. (26/05/2010)

I have one problem with Chinatown, as deeply mysterious and conspiratorial as the story appears to be, I found it rather falsely super-clever and a bit unnecessarily drawn out in the end. But that doesn't change the fact that it works superbly as a colourful homage to film-noir, that the atmosphere is properly suffocating, the actors are excellent and that Polanski stages some of the climactic scenes in a very impressive, almost unique in its time, visual way. Rarely you’ll feel so sad that noir has disappeared from the film industry as when you watch Chinatown, a work of form that is undoubtedly perfect and beautiful... (01/03/2022)

I've heard maybe too much praise for the movie, and perhaps I'm already a bit influenced by the current state of the world, so the major revelation didn't feel that shocking to me. But it's still a great film, which Polanski guides with an incredibly sure hand to the end, and it offers no happy ending, which in this case is a good thing. (06/10/2015)