Essay on Chinatown as Film Noir

     ChinaTown, directed by Roman Polanski, is a non-traditional hard-nosed detective film made in the 70's. The typical elements of character type are there; J.J. Gittes (a private detective in LA) played by Jack Nicholson is the central character, sharing the spotlight is Fay Dunaway playing the femme fatale Evelyn Mulwray. This film breaks all types of norms when compared to the hard-nosed detective films it is modeled after. The film is filled with allusions to the Big Sleep, especially taken from scenes of Marlowe and Vivian. Chinatown has formal elements indicative that it is going to be in the style of traditional Film Noir hardboiled detective, until you examine the characters' personalities

Lewis uses lighting to dramatize the opening scene of the film and characterize the protagonist of the story. The most noticeable utilization of film noir lighting is in the beginning

Chinatown is based on Roman Polanski’s lifeworks. Polanski’s goal is to emphasizes the meaning of how cinematography is made, and how it inspires by understanding the concept of setting, lighting, and how the image is captured. This film was released in 1974 by director of Roman Polanski to focus on private investigator J.J. Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson to investigate the elements behind the truth. Polanski’s goal is to emphasize the audience to give an ominous feeling of the main character, J.J. Gittes and his point of view by showing in color instead of black and white pictures. Due to these reasons, Polanski wanted to use Panavision to give a flawed vision about the past, which the story is set in the years of 1937. Polanski states, “a traditional detective story with a new, modern shape” for Paramount picture. (1) This paper focuses on the film Chinatown which is neo-noir, not only because of the setting, but the concept of cinematography that connects duplicates occurrences together that describe three categories: background of the cinematographer, point of view of the main character, and the interpretation of the ending scenes.

Roman Polanski used every minute of his movie Chinatown to define and redefine J.J. Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson. Gittes is for all intents and purposes a classic private investigator, making a living out of other infidelity. Polanski adds an element of quirkiness to Gittes by utilizing the genius of Jack Nicholson and incorporating film noir traits. With Polanski’s mixture of modern acting talent combined with an updated format of color film he creates a visual curiosity that compels the viewer to stay engaged and intrigued.

Mrs. Mulwray would be considered a femme fatale, an attractive and seductive woman who brings disaster on her lovers, because Mr. Gittes found himself in more danger while he was involved with her. This danger was evident when Mr. Gittes’s nose was cut open, he had to flee gunfire from an old retiree home and at the end when he was upset by Mrs. Mulwray’s death. These dangers

The use of the color in the settings, make the film very unique in a very good way. For example all of the houses are colorful. The buildings and houses are very well placed throughout the film. The bright colors and well placed houses make the scenes and the overall movie unique. The bright colors make the movie memorable, because bright colors stand out more than other duller colors. Another example of the films features that make the movie memorable are the characters. The characters in this film wear very flashy clothing, which shows the audience that the characters have

The director began the film in color and makes the shift to black and white. which take the audience into the bring of world war II. The black and white highlights key scenes and characters. This also captures how we see world war II and conveys the emotions of a depressing era. Each scene in the movie kept a realistic portal. The black and white interfered the vilonace and sadnesss. Scenes such as the evacuation of the jews from the ghetto, which brought the fear and panic felt by the jews. To the little girl wandering the streets alone with all the madness around. What drew the audience towards her was the fact that the only thing in color was her red coat. Her red coat made a powerful statement of a child innocents.

In the essay Chinatown: A Contested Urban Space, by Mary Ting Yi Lui, Chinatowns collectively occupy a special place in the collective imagination of American ethnic history and the nation’s contemporary multicultural identity, as evidenced by their serving as the settings for various motion pictures. From coast to coast, Chinatowns remain major tourist draws, and continued immigration from the Chinese diaspora ensures that Chinatown will retain their social and cultural significance for many years to come. Chinese Americans are the oldest and largest Asian ethnic group in the United States, consisting of fourth and fifth-generation Americans of Chinese descent and recent immigrants of languages spoken and points of origin. Chinese immigration

Chinatown was filmed in 1974 and directed by Roman Polanski. J.J Gittes, L.A. private investigator, is approached by a woman who identifies herself as Evelyn Mulwray to catch her husband in the act of cheating. The husband in question Hollis Mulwray is the chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and is caught in the middle of the water wars where water was being redirected to the valley instead of the dry lands of L.A. Having come to close to the truth of this con Hollis Mulwray was murdered and thrown into the (water). This sudden death not only instigated Gittes to investigate the causes of his death, but also unfold the events that got him involved in the first place. Gittes himself states, “ I don’t like to be

Roman Polanski's neo-noir film Chinatown (1974) portrays authoritative figures indifferent to and complicit in rampant corruption. Notably, Chnatown is about the functions of evil in everyday life (Morrison 76). The movie title alludes to the overarching theme of crime and dishonesty fitting of Chinatown, a region where underground operations lurk and the law is disregarded. Far from unsettling society, widespread corruption is often overlooked. As the film progresses, the audience is rendered as disillusioned as the protagonist who discovers that his surrounding environment is not neutral, but is a force that needs to be interrogated (Orr and Ostrowska 108). Unfortunately, he would find expectations and attempts to correct the mistakes of his past bitterly thwarted.

Film Noir Film noir is not a genre, but can be described as a style or mood for films made in the early 1940’s during the Great Depression time period, in which Hollywood went noir. Just the word Noir itself means “darkness or black” in French. This meant all the films showed dark aspects of modernity, murderers, political corruption, and organized crime reflected on the disappointment of the times. Film noir is characterized by elements such as Dark and shadowy lighting, flashbacks and voice over, and cynical men and women. All films have similarities and differences in which they accomplish falling into the Noir genre, for example “Raw Deal” and “Out of the Past”, two very different films but fall into the same category.

Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye and Roman Polanski’s Chinatown are both good examples of neo-noir. They both carry elements of classical film noir with them, such as the “hard boiled detective” archetype, the “femme fatale” archetype, and they both deal with the gritty side of human nature. But while they both have some overlapping noir tropes that can be seen in classical noirs, these films are actually incredibly different from one another. They both act as examples for John Cawelti’s Modes of Generic Transformation. They both share one mode, but then have different modes in addition, making them noir-like in essence, but still incredibly different films.

Roman Polanski's Hollywood film Chinatown, directed in 1974, tells the story of Jake Gittes, a private investigator. The film focuses in on the dark reality of corruption behind power hungry men, making this a true neo-noir film. Chinatown reveals a depth narrative allowing the viewer to follow Gittes and uncover the secrets around the water dispute in California. I chose to bring focus to the significance of the male gaze and how this form of power can change and affect our views. The prominent female character in the film, Evelyn Mulwray, is a wealthy white woman. With her character comes active male attention and desire. Laura Mulvey's Theory of "The Gaze" supports this argument by studying the power and influence of a patriarchal

audience) that he will wait in a café until he finds her. The café he

Rules of the Game are an important concept to creating a drama, and I enjoyed many of the subtle details of Chinatown. Polanski directs the film with a noir setting to make his audience carefully indulge in every aspect of the film. The setting of 1930’s Los Angeles truly intrigued me as viewer, because the setting felt nostalgic