Polanski has always directed uneven and sometimes disappointing movies.
Having said that, this writer revisited "Chinatown" almost thirty-three years after its release and found it good. In fact, found it excellent! Visually stunning (as an auteur's films should be) "Chinatown" is also a period-piece which would make the BBC proud: it reeks of purity. The costumes, cars, offices are SO accurate that it makes one want to weep. Of course, it is OUR vision of what LA was/should be. And so it goes.
Nicholson is pre-'Satanic'-eyebrows, and 'La Faye' simply stunning. Polanski's conceit of using John Huston in a key role takes one's breath away: Huston is presented as an 'eminence gris', the power behind the throne, as he was in real life.
Satisfying and a brilliant nod (and wink) to the 'forties films noir. Oooh, gonna watch it again... 10/10.
Having said that, this writer revisited "Chinatown" almost thirty-three years after its release and found it good. In fact, found it excellent! Visually stunning (as an auteur's films should be) "Chinatown" is also a period-piece which would make the BBC proud: it reeks of purity. The costumes, cars, offices are SO accurate that it makes one want to weep. Of course, it is OUR vision of what LA was/should be. And so it goes.
Nicholson is pre-'Satanic'-eyebrows, and 'La Faye' simply stunning. Polanski's conceit of using John Huston in a key role takes one's breath away: Huston is presented as an 'eminence gris', the power behind the throne, as he was in real life.
Satisfying and a brilliant nod (and wink) to the 'forties films noir. Oooh, gonna watch it again... 10/10.