"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" means you can't change things, it's the way things are and the way it'll always be, no matter how hard you try to fix things. It's about the futility of fighting injustices and darkness in the world.
'Chinatown' in that sense also refers back to the earlier "As little as possible", because we don't necessarily understand what is going on, or for what motivations. It can be dangerous to try to intervene. Gittes' as a police officer tried to protect someone and ended up making sure they got hurt. Gittes as a detective repeats the same mistake.
There were originally going to be three films in this series, all to do with government corruption. China Town deals with the water company, A sequel, The Two Jake's deals with mineral rights. The third film was going to be about the transportation system in L.A., but was never made. Robert Zemeckis got hold of the script and re-worked it into "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".
When I took some screenwriting courses back in the day, the instructor held this screenplay up as the most perfect movie script ever written. One whole quarter, all we did was study this screenplay, break it down, analyze it, and learn what made it work, how, and why. I learned more about movies from that class, and this movie, than from any other thing.
@@michaelsegriff3362 It's difficult to imagine doing that with almost any other movie no matter what the year. Only a tiny handful of movies are so meticulously made at every level that they would reward that intensity of study. An interesting thing in this movie is the use of POV -- not just actual POV shots, but what we learn, when, and how. In every case but one, we learn things when and as Jake Gittes learns them, which promotes a strong audience association with the character. The only exception in the whole movie is when Evelyn Mulwray is introduced -- Jake has his back to her telling a dirty joke and she's right behind him, completely disdainful. That's a very deliberate choice: it not only makes us feel discomfort on Jake's behalf, but also subtly and nonverbally informs the audience that Evelyn's point of view is vital to the movie and that she's a character we have to identify with, even as she's fairly brittle and unpleasant through the first and most of the second act. That's the kind of masterful stroke that this movie gives you and almost no other movie does, simply because every single aspect of this movie was thought through with a care most movies never receive.
@@gregghelmberger Did you know this film was not actually soley written by Robert Towne? In 2018 his roommate at the time came out and said he wrote a lot of the script. But Polanski wrote the final and infamous line "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"
People might dismiss it because it's a comedy, but I suspect Hot Fuzz will be looked at the same way in the future. A nearly perfect screenplay full of deliberate choices.
It's so interesting to watch your reaction and review to one of the greatest films of all time! "Chinatown" is one of those rare movies that I never get tired of watching at least once a year. By the way: the villain of this film was played by the legendary John Huston, who directed unnumbered masterpieces of movie history: Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Misfits, The Man Who Would Be King...
10:06 - Noah Cross was played by legendary American director John Huston. I'm sure this casting wasn't coincidence. Huston's first feature movie was first noir movie called The Maltase Falcon from 1941.
Radoslaw Ostrowski Not only that but Jack Nicholson was dating John Hustons daughter at the time Angelica Huston so that really made the scene where they first meet super awkward cuz John Huston ask him if he's sleeping with his daughter lol
Noah Cross is played by John Huston himself. His first movie is The Maltese Falcon, one of the key movies in film noir. He also made The Asphalt Jungle, another amazing film noir... both are imperative recommendations regarding this genre. His casting in Chinatown is just perfect, who better than him? maybe Howard Hawks, if he was an actor... he wasn't, but directed The Big Sleep and To Have And Have Not, another couple of noir masterpieces, and big recommendations
Nice point thx for sharing. Another celebrity/actor father in a small character role is Bruce Glover playing Jake's assistant detective Duffy. Bruce is the father of Crispin Glover.
one of the best reaction channels.. top movie selection. smart commenting during the movie, not too much and i have the feeling Shan really pays attention to the movie. great editing. thoughtful analysys after the movie.
I always loved this movie, especially that gorgeous theme by Jerry Goldsmith. I think that a perfect follow-up for it is the classic L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, also with a great Goldsmith score. An interesting fact: the writer, Robert Towne, started out writing and acting for Roger Corman under the name Edward Wain in such no-budget films as "Last Woman on Earth" and "Creature From the Haunted Sea."
Yes, this really reminds me of LA Confidential--or vice versa--in that the viewer really has no idea what's going on for a long stretch of the movie. But in both cases you trust that the movie (the screenplay really) will explain it to you in a way that will make perfect sense. And that's what happens. It's that sense of trust that pulls you in rather than shutting you out. The parcelling out of information is brilliant.
FDR, only man to be elected to 4 terms as president, although he died only 6 months into his fourth term. Later the 22nd amendment,ratified February 27, 1951 changed it to the current 2 elected terms.
As several others have noted, Noah Cross was played by John Huston, an eminent director in his own right. Many of his films are considered classics; the ones that stand out the most for me (in case you haven't already watched them) are The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the African Queen, all of which star Humphrey Bogart.
That smooth trumpet sound looms large in the background and becomes a force driving the narrative. Gives me goosebumps every time. Brilliant score. Love your reaction.
You are 100% right about re-watching this movie being a better experience than the first viewing. When re-watching it and knowing the plot in the back of your head you can just sit back and take it all in. You can really appreciate all the beautiful scenery which blends perfectly with the music throughout the movie. It's actually a very relaxing movie to watch every now and again.
if you want to see a really great and overlooked polanski film, watch his version of macbeth. he really channeled his grief over sharon tate, and it just blackens the horror there. It has also got to be the best film I've ever seen to convince me how lucky we are to live in the modern day.
Shan is is your best reaction. This movie's screenplay goes over many peoples heads, but you understood everything going on and it really shows how clever and invested you are.
I've watched multiple "reaction" videos to this film, and yours is the VERY BEST. Your discussion after the film was excellent and an intelligent review of the many nuances of this classic. I believe it's a classic because it does NOT leave you with a good feeling at the end. It did NOT present the usual ending of the "bad guy" getting taken down and made to pay for his crimes. That ending coupled with the complexity of the story is why this film is special. It rises way above the usual noir murder mystery. . .One of my all-time favorites.
Great reaction.A movie that rarely gets reacted to,probably due to how complex the plot is at times. I think John Huston as the father deserves kudos for playing such a dirtbag to perfection.He was already a brilliant director,and this is easily the best of his dips into the acting pool.
Cinematic Perfection. Whatever you think of Polanski as a person, he`s a master film maker. The Ninth Gate , a film he did with Johnny Depp , is also one of my favorites . There`s a sequel that Nicholson directed called The Two Jakes . Loved the John Hillerman , of Magnum P.I., cameo. Favorite line in the film :" Politicians, ugly buildings & whores all get respectable if they last long enough."
If you enjoyed this classic film noir by Polanski, then you must watch another of his masterpiece films, -- ROSEMARY'S BABY -- a stylish horror genre set in NYC 60's.
@@jons.105 18? I don’t know Jon. I’m skeptical. How are the Bond films getting through. I mean, I’d have nothing in common with recommendations made by polls of people averaging 18 years old.
When I was in high school, the late 1980s for me, I read a book on screenplay writing that was written by Robert Towne, the man who wrote the script for CHINATOWN. It was an excellent book on the topic. He also wrote a 2nd book on the topic but I only read the first. I can certainly recommend it to anyone interested in constructing a story. While the emphasis is on script writing, it can apply to any style of writing (such as a novel).
I just love the way you pick up on things in movies, details, symbolisms, metaphors, shots etc. I rewatch a lot of your reactions. Quality, thank you, Shan. Perversion runs through this film, the people of LA and their water, Evelyn and what happened to her with her monster of a father. Some secrets are so perverse that no matter how good a PI you are, money talks and justice walks.
Completely different genre, but I'm pretty sure you'd really enjoy Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" which is impossible to really describe without spoilering it to death and ruining your experience but it's an unusual psychological creepy/horror with a very dark sense of humour :)
Yes, so many layers in this script. I just picked up during the reaction that the "black spot" in her eye foreshadows her fate. The exit wound from the bullet... Damn. You find something new every time you watch this movie.
One of the most disturbing films that really shows that inherent corruption (economic) will always stand in the way of justice so long as it exists. The end is one of the most poignant moments in film.
It's a refreshing change to watch a movie that in order to really enjoy the film you have to pay close attention and think about the plot clues. Movies like this, are a rare thing nowadays.
Excellent reaction, as is always the case. You've hit upon a celluloid monument with this film, friend. This screenplay (written by Robert Towne and developed by producer Robert Evans) has been scrutinized and studied by screenwriters and film students pretty much since the film's opening day. One aspect of the story that is so fascinating is that Jake is deeply capable and confident. He's razor smart, with every move he makes, from the broken pocket watches, to uncovering the land rights were going to elderly folks, soon to die. He's so clever, that we have no doubt that no matter what, he will get to the bottom of this ever darkening mystery. And as the credits roll, and the lights come up in the theater, we realize that both we and Jake were one hundred percent wrong. Jake may be one of the smartest screen protagonists in cinema history, but before the first frame pops onto the screen, he is completely out matched by Noah Cross and the simple power of his wealth, and his unyielding, terrifying will to, as he says, "be capable of anything." It's one of the darkest and most brutally realistic endings in any film. And if we find any confidence in Jake, at any point in film, then we never see it coming.
Well said. There is no comeuppance for the rich antagonist just as their rarely is for rich antagonizers in our own reality. Jake is capable, spry and clever and yet at every moment he is outmatched in budget and resources and so in effect he lost before the story started. The realization that the entirety of Chinatown as a metaphor for the sprawling corruption that cannot be be reasoned with or fixed is the most stunning part of the movie - you can try to be as good as possible and have the best intentions to affect positive change but at the end of the day the deck is stacked and the game is rigged and you aren't winning.
Bob Evans was so obsessed with finishing this film, he sent his wife Ali McGraw to Texas to shoot The Getaway, with Steve McQueen so he could concentrate. Wanna guess what happened?
Discovered your review the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted to commend you on your review from screenplay to cinematography... EXCELLENT REVIEW !!! and very astute!! Instant fan! Have a nice day!
The Last Detail (1971) doesn't seem to get enough love, but I too think it's one of Jack's best characters. Too many people, including Shan, think that The Shining is his best. Cuckoo's Nest in '75 and Missouri Breaks in '76 was when he was really cookin'.
1:56 - about music Jerry Goldsmith wasn't first choice to write music. Score was originally composed by Phillip Lambro but was rejected after the test screenings (this rejected score was released in 2012 and is avaiable on streaming services). Goldsmith got the job in the last minute and has only ten days to write the music.
You’re absolutely correct to recommend this. I’ve always considered it a sister movie to Chinatown, and almost as good. Chinatown has a much better ending, though, while LAC has a bit of a generic ending
This is one of the few modern movies I would consider true Film Noir. The Old Man was John Huston, he was a Director, his first-ever movie was The Maltese Falcon. I love this film. Good review. The protestor with the cane early at the "hearing" was Ron Howard's dad.
I'm not terribly familiar with Polanski's work. I think the only other film I've seen from him is the horror classic, Rosemary's Baby (1968), starring Mia Farrow. One of my favorite performances by Faye Runaway was in the film Little Big Man, which also stars Dustin Hoffman.
The screenplay is by Robert Towne, one of the truly great screenwriters & script-doctors. This is considered his opus, and is arguably the greatest screenplay ever written. One thing though is that originally the script had Noah Cross dying and Jake helping Evelyn escape with Katherine. Polanski changed it, in part probably because of his wife’s tragic murder just 5 years earlier.
Great reaction. This film is in my top 10 of all-time list. I have a gigantic poster of the film next to my bed. Chinatown was nominated for 11 Oscars, including picture, director, actor, actress (Dunaway), editing, and cinematography. It won Best Original Screenplay. Basically it lost out to The Godfather Part 2. Cross was played by legendary director John Huston, who did films like the Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Moby Dick, and the Treasure for Sierra Madre.
So great to see your reaction! Chinatown is a masterpiece. I've seen it perhaps a dozen times, and I discover more on every viewing. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
The plot is complicated partly because the crime is complicated and hard to understand. I always thought that was the main underlying point of this film. A guy pulls out a gun and robs you and it's easy to understand; but the rich and powerful commit far worse crimes and damage far more lives, but the crimes they commit are much harder to grasp and they have far more resources at their disposal, so most of their crimes never get discovered or prosecuted. It seems to me one of the great tragedies of living in a complex, modern society.
Part of what makes this movie so great is the way it deals with historic back story of civic corruption that serves as the backdrop and setting for the more human drama of the Mulwray mystery. Here is some historic background for context. The Hollis Mulwray character is a thinly disguised fictional version of William Mulholland (as in Mulholland Drive, yes that Mulholland). The real life Mulholland was a self taught engineer who designed and built the LA Aqueduct which takes water from the Owens Valley along the Eastern Sierras and brings it to the Los Angeles metro area. The Owens Valley farmers who were deprived of this water were openly hostile to the scheme once it became known to them, and the chaotic council meeting scene is a reflection of this. A major source of the hostility of the farmers was due to the way their water rights were procured using corrupt and deceptive methods by a secret cabal of wealthy Los Angeles civic boosters / real estate speculators led by the wealthy former mayor of Los Angeles Frederick Eaton. The LA speculators quietly bought up farm land in the Owens Valley, often in a checkerboard pattern, and then as they consolidated their growing holdings they used their control over access to the increasingly enclosed remaining farms to force the sale of the holdout farmers. The Owens Valley never recovered as a farming region from the loss of their water to Los Angeles. The Noah Cross character may be loosely (very loosely) based on Eaton (the ruthless businessman aspect anyway, though nothing suggests that Eaton was an incestuous child molestor). The corruption aspect of the movie's backstory is true, the cabal of real estate speculators did drum up a PR campaign to promote a bogus drought in order to get the city to pass expensive taxpayer underwritten bonds to fund the infrastructure needed to aquire additional water for the city, all the while they were buying up unincorporated farm land in the San Fernando Valley. Once the bonds were passed and the additional water was obtained the San Fernando Valley was annexed as part of the growing city and was subsequently developed as a vast tract home suburban addition to the city, all generating great profit to the cabal of speculators. Another bit of LA history was the argument in the council meeting over the engineering of the proposed new dam. The real life William Mulholland designed and built the Saint Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon near present day Santa Clarita. Mulholland misread the geology of the dam site and the dam began leaking almost as soon as it was filled. On the night of March 12, 1928 the dam collapsed, and over 400 people living down stream of the dam lost their lives in the ensuing flood. This is the dam disaster that the fictional Mulwray is ostensibly referring to in the council meeting scene when he is insisting on higher engineering standards. Anyway, good job on the reaction and you've won my sub.
I've watched this film over 30 times, yet I still find some hidden nuance that I failed to observe previously. Great films never pale because they are ultimately great pieces of art.
im shocked but pleasantly surprised to see you do one of my favorites , i was young when i first saw this and learned the power of land and who controls the water
Polanski had several other Masterpieces at this level in his career: Repulsion ('65), Rosemary's Baby ('68), The Tenant ('76), The Ninth Gate ('99). Other great films of his are Frantic ('88), Carnage ('11), Venus In Furs ('13). The Pianist is the best movie about the Shoah. I haven't already seen the last one about the "Dreyfus case" but friends have told me that's a very good one.
Great film thanks Shan ! As good as it gets “ is one of Jack’s best and he won an Oscar for it really great film also Faye Dunaway “Oklahoma Crude “ with George C Scott is one of her best that is little known, thanks again Shan!
The movie is loosely based on the Owen's Valley project, were basically some very powerful men from L.A. more or less stole water from farther up Northern California. A relative of mine was involved in a bombing of the reservoir in protest of taking the water away. Also, you surmised that he opposed the dam being built because of this water conspiracy. That isn't the case, the real life Mulray was named William Mullholland. You recall when he refused to build the dam he said, "I won't make the same mistake twice". In 1926, Mullholland was the lead engineer for the construction of the St. Francis dam just 40 miles from Los Angeles. Mullholland was a self taught engineer and because of a design flaw, the dam broke and is considered one of the worst dam disasters in the US. He had learned his lesson of not undertaking a project of such magnitude without the proper experience.
So glad you enjoyed this fantastic film. There's plenty of good Polanski material to catch up on : Knife in the Water (in Polish with subtitles), Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Tess etc. I know film and acting are subjective, but for my money, Nicholson's performance in the Shining was far and away his worst as he hammed it up shamelessly so much so that I spent most of my time laughing than being scared. This performance in Chinatown was masterly : sharp and funny but also nuanced.
Takes place in 1937, pre-war LA. Noah Cross is being played by Academy Award winning director and writer John Huston, who also played the role of Noah in the film The Bible. Later he directed Jack and his daughter in the dark mob comedy "Prizzi's Honor". It's a very fun movie and well worth a viewing, if you have not seen it.
So glad you've finally gotten around to this. I watched it for the first time recently and... yeah, it's that good. One of the classics of the New Hollywood era. The 70s were a dark time for America, but they sure produced some amazing movies.
Finally someone does Chinatown (one of my top 10) which is why this channel is one of the only reaction worth a damn--even if I don't always agree with him. The interesting choices and they guy isn't try to get himself over at the expense of the movie (like 98% of other reaction channels). In fact, the best reaction channels are closer to movie reviews, like here, than typical 'reaction' stuff. Now if only he'd do Apocalypse Now, Once Upon a Time in America (or the West. Both are brilliant) and The Wild Bunch. Hint hint!
BTW: the year of the film is 1937, but the portrayal of Los Angeles is based off of the California water wars of the 1910s and '20s, after the Dust Bowl. The bursting of the dam is based off of a real life incident that actually killed several people.
Excellent movie in every way. Seeing this when it came out I remember being surprise and also delighted and how unique it was that the main male character, instead of being presented as the usual, earlier Hollywood trope of being handsome, a sex symbol, and indestructible, went thru some of the film in a most unglamorous way with a a big unattractive bandage on his face. A couple of my favorite movies with complex and surprising plots: Lone Star (1996), L. A. Confidential (1997)
Fun fact, Jack Nicholson was involved with John Huston's daughter, Angelica, for many years. They starred opposite each other in the excellent 'Prizzi's Honor'.
Cross is played by the director John Hughes, father of Angelica Huston. He directed many great movies, so look him up. The time is set pre-war, in the 30’s.
Chinatown came out in 1974. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, including best actor, but won only 1 Oscar (for Best Screenplay). This was a warm up for Jack because the following year, 1975, One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest, was released. While nominated for 'only' 9 Oscars, Cuckoo's Nest won 5 Oscars, including Jack Nicholson for Best Actor.
one of my ten favorite films since i saw it a long time ago..you are awesome sir,,,keep em' comin...and how about that jerry goldsmith score!! all my best,kent in ohio.
Really great reaction video and, again, I don't think there are any other reaction videos for this classic! I really like how you're tackling the 70s greats! You're getting to see the work on which all of these great actors and directors reputations rest. A few things: you've done "Network" and you've done "Chinatown".....now to complete the Faye Dunaway circle, DEFINITELY check out "Bonnie And Clyde" (with Warren Beatty and Gene Hackman). Which is the first real "70s" film, even though it's 1967. You'll also like "Barfly" (1980s, with Mickey Rourke). Roman Polanski? You have to see "Rosemary's Baby". Oof! And a word about Polanski's "controversies": the guy saw his family ripped from him and sent to Auschwitz, never to be heard from again, saw all kinds of horrible stuff during WWII....... then had his 8-month pregnant wife (as well as his friends) savagely murdered by the Manson Family (and remember: Polanski was originally blamed for it in the press before they figured out it was Manson!)........ it doesn't excuse what he did about four years later, with the young girl, but I find the priggish hysteria one-dimensional and completely ignorant of the facts: he went to trial, got sentenced, did his time and when he got out, the judge (who loved the media attention) decided he wanted to sentence him for a second time. Polanski saw the writing on the wall and escaped the US. THE GIRL HAS REPEATEDLY ASKED THAT HE BE LEFT ALONE. You can see interviews with her. The people who get on their high horse about this issue are prigs who have refused to acquaint themselves in any manner with the facts of the case. People are also not taking to account what the 70s was like, how not uncommon such a thing was, and how kids were acting a lot more worldly before the 80s, taking drugs, going to rock concerts...... David Bowie took the virginity of Lori Maddox, who was 13. But you see, nobody wants to be mad at good looking David Bowie! So don't get caught up in the garbage about Roman Polanski. There's a reason no one has ever extradited him back to the United States. Here, watch this! I just looked this up on TH-cam and it's here. This will tell you everything you need to know about the case, including modern day interviews with the victim: th-cam.com/video/Y0fpkGN_Sx4/w-d-xo.html
Noah Cross was played by the esteemed director John Huston, who made (directed) The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Key Largo, The Misfits, Moby Dick and The Night of the Iguana, all excellent films, each worthy of your time to react to.
I'm dropping my request here because it's your most recent reaction. I figure maybe you'll be more likely to see it here. I just watched your reaction to Good Will Hunting and liked it a lot. I checked your list of movies , and i didn't see AWAKENINGS there. Perhaps you've seen the film, and ruled it out on that grounds. But, yes, Robin Williams is a genius, and his work in AWAKENINGS was stellar. As was the film itself. Di Nero was great, also. In case you haven't yet seen it, i'm requesting it here. Thanks - PS i enjoyed your reaction to Chinatown as well. Great film.
John Huston was not only a brilliant director and actor but also the father of the great actress (female actor- actors are male, PC nimrods) Angelica Huston. See “Pritzi’s Honor” for a great Angelica Huston/Jack Nicholson film. Your review is great. I’m now a subscriber and look forward to future reviews by you.
PS: You did great. Chinatown is a movie that you can watch over and over again and see new things in it. It's definitely not meant to be seen just once!
Chinatown and Who Framed Roger Rabbit... both talking about the same time in LA. But Cross is Mulholland. He built the Waterways that made the City possible. BIG DREAMS out here in LA-La Land. Freeways and Waterways. Orange Groves and Red Cars.
Remember at one time people here in California could only wash once a week because of the lack of water so the pond is an extravagant indulgence and callous. China Town is about water in California and The Two Jakes is about oil.
If you like this movie, "Body Heat" should be your next...Also, have to say, the symbols and classic convergences are perfect ie. the backdrop and subject matter. It has a near biblical reverence (or utility, universality) of water. Everyone in the film is subliminally tied to it for their very lives, high or low and they are in the middle of a desert like their biblical counterparts who at some point all failed and required redemption. I think the incest was an old testament footnote to this theme. How it is viewed by the poor and the rich is a classic instrument but everyone converges around it regardless and it's timeless necessity is a great metaphor for morality or lack of it. (ie. life giving or life destroying through a lack of moral ethic.) I think Chinatown is the established gray zone, something Gittes natural moral fibre couldn't tolerate so he fled (only to be drawn back to it and defeated again.) In the beginnings of the enlightenment, it was argued man's natural state was good and the "evil" was not a natural eventuality but only brought about by scarcity of the means of life. This brought out all sorts of nasty animal and instinctual behaviours (according to the philosophers of 400 years ago.)
whenever a situation comes up where it seems like big, corrupt powers are directing things behind the scenes, I say "Forget it Jake - it's Chinatown" The American Film Institute selected Noah Cross as one of the 10 biggest villains in American movies.
Towne's script is brilliant. On repeated watches, notice that Dunaway's answers are often the truth but appear to be lies. Chinatown is a metaphor for just not knowing what is going on, sort of like what's going on in Chinatown is hard to understand to the outsider. By the way, it is set in 1936.
Love your reactions! Here is a short list of films I think you might enjoy reviewing. Maybe you have already done reviews on some, but any way: Heat with DeNiro and Al Pacino, a crime drama; Body Heat with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Ted Danson, and a young Mickey Rourke; LA Confidential with Kim Basinger, Russel Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Guy Pearce, another neo-noir; Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman; The Graduate, another Hoffman film and a kind of coming of age in the early '60s theme; and yet another Dustin Hoffman film, LIttle Big Man co-starring Faye Dunaway; Cool Hand Luke, a prison chain gang story starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy; and, finally, The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Happy viewing!
I’ve seen all of your movie suggestions. Heat and LA Confidential are masterpieces (in my opinion) but the others are also pretty good. I’m sure that you can remember the famous line from Marathon Man: “Is is safe?” 😀
@@michaelsegriff3362 I know, what you mean 😁 Kathleen Turner made it difficult for me to concentrate about the plot. I think, I had a crush on her in the following weeks, after I had seen the movie. Would love to see a reaction on that one too.
@@prebenpoejensen8256 And the plot was damned great! But Kathleen was slammin’. The musical score was fantastic and atmospheric, and even if you saw the movie in winter, you just felt like perspiring. Ted Danson in it as well. I saw the film in the theater when I was early twenties, and during some of the scenes, I felt like I shouldn’t have been allowed in! 😝Stay well !
May I suggest the excellent thriller, The Parallax View (1974). An exercise in political paranoia starring Warren Beatty that I think will stimulate some interesting analysis from you. Thanks for another great review Shan!
I always enjoy your reactions, and today I got to watch two: Demolition Man and Chinatown! Also, my ex-brother-in-law dropped dead. It has truly been a wonderful day!
This script is considered one of the greatest ever written; it is used for training writers and filmmakers. It is one of those which reveal more depth and detail on every viewing.
![[Part 1] ทารกน้อยถูกทิ้ง👶 หญิงชราเก็บขวดขายเลี้ยงดูเขาจนโต #โลกการละคร](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nPTDvFCExks/mqdefault.jpg)
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" means you can't change things, it's the way things are and the way it'll always be, no matter how hard you try to fix things. It's about the futility of fighting injustices and darkness in the world.
Chinatown isn’t a place, it’s a state of mind.
'Chinatown' in that sense also refers back to the earlier "As little as possible", because we don't necessarily understand what is going on, or for what motivations. It can be dangerous to try to intervene. Gittes' as a police officer tried to protect someone and ended up making sure they got hurt. Gittes as a detective repeats the same mistake.
Goes hand-in-hand with the line "as little as possible"
There were originally going to be three films in this series, all to do with government corruption. China Town deals with the water company, A sequel, The Two Jake's deals with mineral rights. The third film was going to be about the transportation system in L.A., but was never made. Robert Zemeckis got hold of the script and re-worked it into "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".
The two Jakes was perfection but the audience changed and it lost its punch. Shame. i thought it was as brilliant as Chinatown.
When I took some screenwriting courses back in the day, the instructor held this screenplay up as the most perfect movie script ever written. One whole quarter, all we did was study this screenplay, break it down, analyze it, and learn what made it work, how, and why. I learned more about movies from that class, and this movie, than from any other thing.
Awesome experience. Imagine trying to do the same exercise with anything made after, say 2015?
@@michaelsegriff3362 It's difficult to imagine doing that with almost any other movie no matter what the year. Only a tiny handful of movies are so meticulously made at every level that they would reward that intensity of study.
An interesting thing in this movie is the use of POV -- not just actual POV shots, but what we learn, when, and how. In every case but one, we learn things when and as Jake Gittes learns them, which promotes a strong audience association with the character. The only exception in the whole movie is when Evelyn Mulwray is introduced -- Jake has his back to her telling a dirty joke and she's right behind him, completely disdainful. That's a very deliberate choice: it not only makes us feel discomfort on Jake's behalf, but also subtly and nonverbally informs the audience that Evelyn's point of view is vital to the movie and that she's a character we have to identify with, even as she's fairly brittle and unpleasant through the first and most of the second act. That's the kind of masterful stroke that this movie gives you and almost no other movie does, simply because every single aspect of this movie was thought through with a care most movies never receive.
@@gregghelmberger Did you know this film was not actually soley written by Robert Towne? In 2018 his roommate at the time came out and said he wrote a lot of the script. But Polanski wrote the final and infamous line "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"
People might dismiss it because it's a comedy, but I suspect Hot Fuzz will be looked at the same way in the future. A nearly perfect screenplay full of deliberate choices.
@@JauntyScarecrow Well, "Hot Fuzz" has been out for 14 years now. If it's not as highly regarded as "Chinatown" by now, then it's not ever gonna be.
It's so interesting to watch your reaction and review to one of the greatest films of all time!
"Chinatown" is one of those rare movies that I never get tired of watching at least once a year.
By the way: the villain of this film was played by the legendary John Huston, who directed unnumbered masterpieces of movie history: Key Largo, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Misfits, The Man Who Would Be King...
10:06 - Noah Cross was played by legendary American director John Huston. I'm sure this casting wasn't coincidence. Huston's first feature movie was first noir movie called The Maltase Falcon from 1941.
Radoslaw Ostrowski Not only that but Jack Nicholson was dating John Hustons daughter at the time Angelica Huston so that really made the scene where they first meet super awkward cuz John Huston ask him if he's sleeping with his daughter lol
Chinatown is a film that has to be digested and then watched many times. The complexity at every level is as good as film gets.
Noah Cross is played by John Huston himself. His first movie is The Maltese Falcon, one of the key movies in film noir. He also made The Asphalt Jungle, another amazing film noir... both are imperative recommendations regarding this genre. His casting in Chinatown is just perfect, who better than him? maybe Howard Hawks, if he was an actor... he wasn't, but directed The Big Sleep and To Have And Have Not, another couple of noir masterpieces, and big recommendations
Asphalt Jungle is awesome!
The Big Sleep is really great. Most people will be more familiar with the “remake”- The Big Lebowski
I’ve seen both and man is Huston an amazing director or what
This has gotta be one of the best films I've seen out of the 70s great pick
of all time
The first "angry villager" at the public hearing was Rance Howard, Ron's father
Nice point thx for sharing. Another celebrity/actor father in a small character role is Bruce Glover playing Jake's assistant detective Duffy. Bruce is the father of Crispin Glover.
one of the best reaction channels.. top movie selection. smart commenting during the movie, not too much and i have the feeling Shan really pays attention to the movie. great editing. thoughtful analysys after the movie.
Shan is great. He’s articulate, knowledgeable and avoids babbling nonsense nonstop, like many other reactors do.
I always loved this movie, especially that gorgeous theme by Jerry Goldsmith. I think that a perfect follow-up for it is the classic L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, also with a great Goldsmith score. An interesting fact: the writer, Robert Towne, started out writing and acting for Roger Corman under the name Edward Wain in such no-budget films as "Last Woman on Earth" and "Creature From the Haunted Sea."
Yes, this really reminds me of LA Confidential--or vice versa--in that the viewer really has no idea what's going on for a long stretch of the movie. But in both cases you trust that the movie (the screenplay really) will explain it to you in a way that will make perfect sense. And that's what happens. It's that sense of trust that pulls you in rather than shutting you out. The parcelling out of information is brilliant.
"Roosevelt - this must be in the 50s." He served as President from 1933 to 1945. Best. Leo.
FDR, only man to be elected to 4 terms as president, although he died only 6 months into his fourth term. Later the 22nd amendment,ratified February 27, 1951 changed it to the current 2 elected terms.
As several others have noted, Noah Cross was played by John Huston, an eminent director in his own right. Many of his films are considered classics; the ones that stand out the most for me (in case you haven't already watched them) are The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the African Queen, all of which star Humphrey Bogart.
Night of the Iguana is my favorite Huston film but the ones you mentioned are excellent also.
Seabiscuit's appearance puts the movie in the 30's.
That smooth trumpet sound looms large in the background and becomes a force driving the narrative.
Gives me goosebumps every time.
Brilliant score.
Love your reaction.
You are 100% right about re-watching this movie being a better experience than the first viewing. When re-watching it and knowing the plot in the back of your head you can just sit back and take it all in. You can really appreciate all the beautiful scenery which blends perfectly with the music throughout the movie. It's actually a very relaxing movie to watch every now and again.
if you want to see a really great and overlooked polanski film, watch his version of macbeth. he really channeled his grief over sharon tate, and it just blackens the horror there. It has also got to be the best film I've ever seen to convince me how lucky we are to live in the modern day.
Shan is is your best reaction. This movie's screenplay goes over many peoples heads, but you understood everything going on and it really shows how clever and invested you are.
God, I love this movie. It's just as fun to rewatch every time, even when you know what the mystery is. It's impossible to look away from it.
I've watched multiple "reaction" videos to this film, and yours is the VERY BEST. Your discussion after the film was excellent and an intelligent review of the many nuances of this classic. I believe it's a classic because it does NOT leave you with a good feeling at the end. It did NOT present the usual ending of the "bad guy" getting taken down and made to pay for his crimes. That ending coupled with the complexity of the story is why this film is special. It rises way above the usual noir murder mystery. . .One of my all-time favorites.
Great reaction.A movie that rarely gets reacted to,probably due to how complex the plot is at times.
I think John Huston as the father deserves kudos for playing such a dirtbag to perfection.He was already a brilliant director,and this is easily the best of his dips into the acting pool.
Yeah, he's a great director. "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is one of Huston's best.
Cinematic Perfection. Whatever you think of Polanski as a person, he`s a master film maker. The Ninth Gate , a film he did with Johnny Depp , is also one of my favorites . There`s a sequel that Nicholson directed called The Two Jakes .
Loved the John Hillerman , of Magnum P.I., cameo. Favorite line in the film :" Politicians, ugly buildings & whores all get respectable if they last long enough."
If you enjoyed this classic film noir by Polanski, then you must watch another of his masterpiece films, -- ROSEMARY'S BABY -- a stylish horror genre set in NYC 60's.
A little mk ultra
I couldn't agree more. One of my top 5 horror films. A slow burn of helplessness and paranoia.
Couldn’t agree more. One particular scene really creeps me out in a way no graphic horror film could possibly. You guys know the one.
@@jons.105 18? I don’t know Jon. I’m skeptical. How are the Bond films getting through. I mean, I’d have nothing in common with recommendations made by polls of people averaging 18 years old.
@@jons.105 Yeah, I like the guy, and I have interest in about half of the films he reviews. I like your recommendations.
When I was in high school, the late 1980s for me, I read a book on screenplay writing that was written by Robert Towne, the man who wrote the script for CHINATOWN. It was an excellent book on the topic. He also wrote a 2nd book on the topic but I only read the first. I can certainly recommend it to anyone interested in constructing a story. While the emphasis is on script writing, it can apply to any style of writing (such as a novel).
You definitely deserve more viewership than you're receiving. You are respectable to the art of filmmaking and sincere. Keep it up.
I just love the way you pick up on things in movies, details, symbolisms, metaphors, shots etc. I rewatch a lot of your reactions. Quality, thank you, Shan. Perversion runs through this film, the people of LA and their water, Evelyn and what happened to her with her monster of a father. Some secrets are so perverse that no matter how good a PI you are, money talks and justice walks.
Rosemary’s Baby is my favorite Polanski film.
Also a masterpiece, for sure. Shan should definetively watch it.
Completely different genre, but I'm pretty sure you'd really enjoy Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" which is impossible to really describe without spoilering it to death and ruining your experience but it's an unusual psychological creepy/horror with a very dark sense of humour :)
I don't recall any humor, dark or otherwise in Rosemary's Baby.
I’d also recommend Polanski’s The Ghost Writer, a political thriller with Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor.
Great job with this, Shan. It’s an intricate, well executed, brilliantly acted, atmospheric masterpiece.
Yes, so many layers in this script. I just picked up during the reaction that the "black spot" in her eye foreshadows her fate. The exit wound from the bullet... Damn. You find something new every time you watch this movie.
Another film classic. Very impressed that you would do a video for this one.
One of the most disturbing films that really shows that inherent corruption (economic) will always stand in the way of justice so long as it exists. The end is one of the most poignant moments in film.
It's great to see such an intelligent reaction to one of the best films ever made.
It's a refreshing change to watch a movie that in order to really enjoy the film you have to pay close attention and think about the plot clues.
Movies like this, are a rare thing nowadays.
Excellent reaction, as is always the case.
You've hit upon a celluloid monument with this film, friend. This screenplay (written by Robert Towne and developed by producer Robert Evans) has been scrutinized and studied by screenwriters and film students pretty much since the film's opening day.
One aspect of the story that is so fascinating is that Jake is deeply capable and confident. He's razor smart, with every move he makes, from the broken pocket watches, to uncovering the land rights were going to elderly folks, soon to die. He's so clever, that we have no doubt that no matter what, he will get to the bottom of this ever darkening mystery. And as the credits roll, and the lights come up in the theater, we realize that both we and Jake were one hundred percent wrong. Jake may be one of the smartest screen protagonists in cinema history, but before the first frame pops onto the screen, he is completely out matched by Noah Cross and the simple power of his wealth, and his unyielding, terrifying will to, as he says, "be capable of anything."
It's one of the darkest and most brutally realistic endings in any film. And if we find any confidence in Jake, at any point in film, then we never see it coming.
Well said. There is no comeuppance for the rich antagonist just as their rarely is for rich antagonizers in our own reality. Jake is capable, spry and clever and yet at every moment he is outmatched in budget and resources and so in effect he lost before the story started. The realization that the entirety of Chinatown as a metaphor for the sprawling corruption that cannot be be reasoned with or fixed is the most stunning part of the movie - you can try to be as good as possible and have the best intentions to affect positive change but at the end of the day the deck is stacked and the game is rigged and you aren't winning.
Bob Evans was so obsessed with finishing this film, he sent his wife Ali McGraw to Texas to shoot The Getaway, with Steve McQueen so he could concentrate. Wanna guess what happened?
Discovered your review the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted to commend you on your review from screenplay to cinematography... EXCELLENT REVIEW !!! and very astute!! Instant fan! Have a nice day!
Love you reacting to these classic films :)
There's no better proof of Nicholson's range than watching "The Last Detail" and "Five Easy Pieces" back to back. Chicken sandwich anyone ???
Chicken-Salad sandwich! "I want you to hold it between your knees!"
The Last Detail (1971) doesn't seem to get enough love, but I too think it's one of Jack's best characters. Too many people, including Shan, think that The Shining is his best. Cuckoo's Nest in '75 and Missouri Breaks in '76 was when he was really cookin'.
@@jeffreynolin94 I've already told Shan that I think The Shining is his worst. Face pulling doesn't equal great acting.
Don't forget it, Shan. It's Chinatown.
1:56 - about music Jerry Goldsmith wasn't first choice to write music. Score was originally composed by Phillip Lambro but was rejected after the test screenings (this rejected score was released in 2012 and is avaiable on streaming services). Goldsmith got the job in the last minute and has only ten days to write the music.
"Repulsion" from 1965 was one Polanski's best psychological horror thrillers starring French actress Catherine Deneuve.
LA Confidential “ is one of the best Film Noir with Russell Crowe that won best picture Oscar is a definite must watch thanks Shan!
Titanic won Best Picture that year, but I do wish L.A. Confidential won it, but I think it is the better movie.
@@KabukiKid it’s definitely better, although Titanic was a hell of an accomplishment
You’re absolutely correct to recommend this. I’ve always considered it a sister movie to Chinatown, and almost as good. Chinatown has a much better ending, though, while LAC has a bit of a generic ending
@Randy White thanks Randy and you are my favorite Dallas Cowboy of all time “Manster”.!
This is one of the few modern movies I would consider true Film Noir. The Old Man was John Huston, he was a Director, his first-ever movie was The Maltese Falcon. I love this film. Good review. The protestor with the cane early at the "hearing" was Ron Howard's dad.
I'm not terribly familiar with Polanski's work. I think the only other film I've seen from him is the horror classic, Rosemary's Baby (1968), starring Mia Farrow.
One of my favorite performances by Faye Runaway was in the film Little Big Man, which also stars Dustin Hoffman.
Faye Runaway? Love it. Sat in front of her on a flight 25 years ago and she was a doll. How about Network, Bonnie and Clyde and 3 Days of the Condor?
Masterpiece indeed. I love this genre and these type of rewatchable films with depth. Great reaction and analysis thanks.
The screenplay is by Robert Towne, one of the truly great screenwriters & script-doctors. This is considered his opus, and is arguably the greatest screenplay ever written.
One thing though is that originally the script had Noah Cross dying and Jake helping Evelyn escape with Katherine. Polanski changed it, in part probably because of his wife’s tragic murder just 5 years earlier.
One of, if not my fav movie. Love the review! Great job, and glad you liked it.
This movie is a masterpiece. Thanks for picking it.
Great reaction. This film is in my top 10 of all-time list. I have a gigantic poster of the film next to my bed.
Chinatown was nominated for 11 Oscars, including picture, director, actor, actress (Dunaway), editing, and cinematography. It won Best Original Screenplay. Basically it lost out to The Godfather Part 2. Cross was played by legendary director John Huston, who did films like the Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Moby Dick, and the Treasure for Sierra Madre.
So great to see your reaction! Chinatown is a masterpiece. I've seen it perhaps a dozen times, and I discover more on every viewing. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
The plot is complicated partly because the crime is complicated and hard to understand. I always thought that was the main underlying point of this film. A guy pulls out a gun and robs you and it's easy to understand; but the rich and powerful commit far worse crimes and damage far more lives, but the crimes they commit are much harder to grasp and they have far more resources at their disposal, so most of their crimes never get discovered or prosecuted. It seems to me one of the great tragedies of living in a complex, modern society.
Now you're prepard for L. A. Confidental.
I was thinking the same thing!
I thought of LA Confidential too while viewing this.I hope Shan will react to it as well.
Part of what makes this movie so great is the way it deals with historic back story of civic corruption that serves as the backdrop and setting for the more human drama of the Mulwray mystery. Here is some historic background for context. The Hollis Mulwray character is a thinly disguised fictional version of William Mulholland (as in Mulholland Drive, yes that Mulholland). The real life Mulholland was a self taught engineer who designed and built the LA Aqueduct which takes water from the Owens Valley along the Eastern Sierras and brings it to the Los Angeles metro area. The Owens Valley farmers who were deprived of this water were openly hostile to the scheme once it became known to them, and the chaotic council meeting scene is a reflection of this. A major source of the hostility of the farmers was due to the way their water rights were procured using corrupt and deceptive methods by a secret cabal of wealthy Los Angeles civic boosters / real estate speculators led by the wealthy former mayor of Los Angeles Frederick Eaton. The LA speculators quietly bought up farm land in the Owens Valley, often in a checkerboard pattern, and then as they consolidated their growing holdings they used their control over access to the increasingly enclosed remaining farms to force the sale of the holdout farmers. The Owens Valley never recovered as a farming region from the loss of their water to Los Angeles. The Noah Cross character may be loosely (very loosely) based on Eaton (the ruthless businessman aspect anyway, though nothing suggests that Eaton was an incestuous child molestor). The corruption aspect of the movie's backstory is true, the cabal of real estate speculators did drum up a PR campaign to promote a bogus drought in order to get the city to pass expensive taxpayer underwritten bonds to fund the infrastructure needed to aquire additional water for the city, all the while they were buying up unincorporated farm land in the San Fernando Valley. Once the bonds were passed and the additional water was obtained the San Fernando Valley was annexed as part of the growing city and was subsequently developed as a vast tract home suburban addition to the city, all generating great profit to the cabal of speculators. Another bit of LA history was the argument in the council meeting over the engineering of the proposed new dam. The real life William Mulholland designed and built the Saint Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon near present day Santa Clarita. Mulholland misread the geology of the dam site and the dam began leaking almost as soon as it was filled. On the night of March 12, 1928 the dam collapsed, and over 400 people living down stream of the dam lost their lives in the ensuing flood. This is the dam disaster that the fictional Mulwray is ostensibly referring to in the council meeting scene when he is insisting on higher engineering standards. Anyway, good job on the reaction and you've won my sub.
Great pick for a review. Definitely a classic. One of the greatest movies which gets better with subsequent viewings.
I've watched this film over 30 times, yet I still find some hidden nuance that I failed to observe previously.
Great films never pale because they are ultimately great pieces of art.
im shocked but pleasantly surprised to see you do one of my favorites , i was young when i first saw this and learned the power of land and who controls the water
Polanski had several other Masterpieces at this level in his career: Repulsion ('65), Rosemary's Baby ('68), The Tenant ('76), The Ninth Gate ('99).
Other great films of his are Frantic ('88), Carnage ('11), Venus In Furs ('13).
The Pianist is the best movie about the Shoah. I haven't already seen the last one about the "Dreyfus case" but friends have told me that's a very good one.
Fanatic, 1988, HARRISON FORD I may add and the lady gym teacher from Carrie, Betty Buckley. Betty Buckley was also in M. Night Shyamalan's Split.
For more Faye Dunaway, I’d very highly recommend you see her in Three Days of the Condor with Robert Redford. It’s a really enjoyable film to watch.
Great film thanks Shan ! As good as it gets “ is one of Jack’s best and he won an Oscar for it really great film also Faye Dunaway “Oklahoma Crude “ with George C Scott is one of her best that is little known, thanks again Shan!
Roosevelt is the 30’s & 40’s. (Or 1900-1910, if it’s Teddy). I believe this took place around 1937.
The movie is loosely based on the Owen's Valley project, were basically some very powerful men from L.A. more or less stole water from farther up Northern California. A relative of mine was involved in a bombing of the reservoir in protest of taking the water away.
Also, you surmised that he opposed the dam being built because of this water conspiracy. That isn't the case, the real life Mulray was named William Mullholland. You recall when he refused to build the dam he said, "I won't make the same mistake twice". In 1926, Mullholland was the lead engineer for the construction of the St. Francis dam just 40 miles from Los Angeles. Mullholland was a self taught engineer and because of a design flaw, the dam broke and is considered one of the worst dam disasters in the US. He had learned his lesson of not undertaking a project of such magnitude without the proper experience.
So glad you enjoyed this fantastic film. There's plenty of good Polanski material to catch up on : Knife in the Water (in Polish with subtitles), Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Tess etc.
I know film and acting are subjective, but for my money, Nicholson's performance in the Shining was far and away his worst as he hammed it up shamelessly so much so that I spent most of my time laughing than being scared. This performance in Chinatown was masterly : sharp and funny but also nuanced.
Takes place in 1937, pre-war LA. Noah Cross is being played by Academy Award winning director and writer John Huston, who also played the role of Noah in the film The Bible. Later he directed Jack and his daughter in the dark mob comedy "Prizzi's Honor". It's a very fun movie and well worth a viewing, if you have not seen it.
So glad you've finally gotten around to this. I watched it for the first time recently and... yeah, it's that good. One of the classics of the New Hollywood era. The 70s were a dark time for America, but they sure produced some amazing movies.
Finally someone does Chinatown (one of my top 10) which is why this channel is one of the only reaction worth a damn--even if I don't always agree with him. The interesting choices and they guy isn't try to get himself over at the expense of the movie (like 98% of other reaction channels). In fact, the best reaction channels are closer to movie reviews, like here, than typical 'reaction' stuff.
Now if only he'd do Apocalypse Now, Once Upon a Time in America (or the West. Both are brilliant) and The Wild Bunch. Hint hint!
BTW: the year of the film is 1937, but the portrayal of Los Angeles is based off of the California water wars of the 1910s and '20s, after the Dust Bowl. The bursting of the dam is based off of a real life incident that actually killed several people.
Saint Francis Dam by Castaic.
Great watch and review. Polanski is my favourite director. I think I like "The Tenant" most now, but it varies.
Excellent movie in every way. Seeing this when it came out I remember being surprise and also delighted and how unique it was that the main male character, instead of being presented as the usual, earlier Hollywood trope of being handsome, a sex symbol, and indestructible, went thru some of the film in a most unglamorous way with a a big unattractive bandage on his face.
A couple of my favorite movies with complex and surprising plots: Lone Star (1996), L. A. Confidential (1997)
One of the great movies of perhaps the greatest decade for American film
0:19 - that was also my first Polanski's movie I've watched. And is one of his best work.
Fun fact, Jack Nicholson was involved with John Huston's daughter, Angelica, for many years. They starred opposite each other in the excellent 'Prizzi's Honor'.
Yes!
And Angelica was in This is Spinal Tap, Shan’s previous reaction video.
Fantastic movie, a neo noir that i love so much. I hope you can watch more noir movies.
Cross is played by the director John Hughes, father of Angelica Huston. He directed many great movies, so look him up. The time is set pre-war, in the 30’s.
John Huston. Legendary actor and director.
The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen and on and on!
@@creech54 You know your movie classics!
@@michaelsegriff3362 Big fan of Huston, as a writer, director and actor!
@@creech54 I am as well. I forgot he did The Asphalt Jungle and Moby Dick. He excelled in quite a range of genres.
Chinatown came out in 1974. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, including best actor, but won only 1 Oscar (for Best Screenplay). This was a warm up for Jack because the following year, 1975, One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest, was released. While nominated for 'only' 9 Oscars, Cuckoo's Nest won 5 Oscars, including Jack Nicholson for Best Actor.
one of my ten favorite films since i saw it a long time ago..you are awesome sir,,,keep em' comin...and how about that jerry goldsmith score!! all my best,kent in ohio.
Really great reaction video and, again, I don't think there are any other reaction videos for this classic! I really like how you're tackling the 70s greats! You're getting to see the work on which all of these great actors and directors reputations rest. A few things: you've done "Network" and you've done "Chinatown".....now to complete the Faye Dunaway circle, DEFINITELY check out "Bonnie And Clyde" (with Warren Beatty and Gene Hackman). Which is the first real "70s" film, even though it's 1967. You'll also like "Barfly" (1980s, with Mickey Rourke). Roman Polanski? You have to see "Rosemary's Baby". Oof! And a word about Polanski's "controversies": the guy saw his family ripped from him and sent to Auschwitz, never to be heard from again, saw all kinds of horrible stuff during WWII....... then had his 8-month pregnant wife (as well as his friends) savagely murdered by the Manson Family (and remember: Polanski was originally blamed for it in the press before they figured out it was Manson!)........ it doesn't excuse what he did about four years later, with the young girl, but I find the priggish hysteria one-dimensional and completely ignorant of the facts: he went to trial, got sentenced, did his time and when he got out, the judge (who loved the media attention) decided he wanted to sentence him for a second time. Polanski saw the writing on the wall and escaped the US. THE GIRL HAS REPEATEDLY ASKED THAT HE BE LEFT ALONE. You can see interviews with her. The people who get on their high horse about this issue are prigs who have refused to acquaint themselves in any manner with the facts of the case. People are also not taking to account what the 70s was like, how not uncommon such a thing was, and how kids were acting a lot more worldly before the 80s, taking drugs, going to rock concerts...... David Bowie took the virginity of Lori Maddox, who was 13. But you see, nobody wants to be mad at good looking David Bowie! So don't get caught up in the garbage about Roman Polanski. There's a reason no one has ever extradited him back to the United States. Here, watch this! I just looked this up on TH-cam and it's here. This will tell you everything you need to know about the case, including modern day interviews with the victim: th-cam.com/video/Y0fpkGN_Sx4/w-d-xo.html
Fantastic ending. Amazing film.
Noah Cross was played by the esteemed director John Huston, who made (directed) The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Key Largo, The Misfits, Moby Dick and The Night of the Iguana, all excellent films, each worthy of your time to react to.
I'm dropping my request here because it's your most recent reaction. I figure maybe you'll be more likely to see it here.
I just watched your reaction to Good Will Hunting and liked it a lot.
I checked your list of movies , and i didn't see AWAKENINGS there. Perhaps you've seen the film, and ruled it out on that grounds.
But, yes, Robin Williams is a genius, and his work in AWAKENINGS was stellar. As was the film itself. Di Nero was great, also. In case you haven't yet seen it, i'm requesting it here. Thanks -
PS i enjoyed your reaction to Chinatown as well. Great film.
John Huston was not only a brilliant director and actor but also the father of the great actress (female actor- actors are male, PC nimrods) Angelica Huston. See “Pritzi’s Honor” for a great Angelica Huston/Jack Nicholson film. Your review is great. I’m now a subscriber and look forward to future reviews by you.
PS: You did great. Chinatown is a movie that you can watch over and over again and see new things in it. It's definitely not meant to be seen just once!
Weird postscript: Jack Nicholson later found out that his "sister" was actually his mother.
Rosemary's Baby should be your next Polanski film. He has many great films. One of his lesser-known movies "Bitter Moon" is also worth watching.
Chinatown and Who Framed Roger Rabbit... both talking about the same time in LA. But Cross is Mulholland. He built the Waterways that made the City possible. BIG DREAMS out here in LA-La Land. Freeways and Waterways. Orange Groves and Red Cars.
The 70s were a true golden age of film.
Love your screen name. Have you read the Timothy Zahn novels?
Add "Bonnie and Clyde" to your list, for Faye Dunaway movies.
Remember at one time people here in California could only wash once a week because of the lack of water so the pond is an extravagant indulgence and callous. China Town is about water in California and The Two Jakes is about oil.
Been waiting for you to watch this one. Classic film.
If you like this movie, "Body Heat" should be your next...Also, have to say, the symbols and classic convergences are perfect ie. the backdrop and subject matter. It has a near biblical reverence (or utility, universality) of water. Everyone in the film is subliminally tied to it for their very lives, high or low and they are in the middle of a desert like their biblical counterparts who at some point all failed and required redemption. I think the incest was an old testament footnote to this theme. How it is viewed by the poor and the rich is a classic instrument but everyone converges around it regardless and it's timeless necessity is a great metaphor for morality or lack of it. (ie. life giving or life destroying through a lack of moral ethic.) I think Chinatown is the established gray zone, something Gittes natural moral fibre couldn't tolerate so he fled (only to be drawn back to it and defeated again.) In the beginnings of the enlightenment, it was argued man's natural state was good and the "evil" was not a natural eventuality but only brought about by scarcity of the means of life. This brought out all sorts of nasty animal and instinctual behaviours (according to the philosophers of 400 years ago.)
Body Heat written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan is a great suggestion!
whenever a situation comes up where it seems like big, corrupt powers are directing things behind the scenes, I say "Forget it Jake - it's Chinatown"
The American Film Institute selected Noah Cross as one of the 10 biggest villains in American movies.
Daniel Day Lewis based the voice of Daniel Painview in There Will be Blood off of John Huston in this movie.
Towne's script is brilliant. On repeated watches, notice that Dunaway's answers are often the truth but appear to be lies. Chinatown is a metaphor for just not knowing what is going on, sort of like what's going on in Chinatown is hard to understand to the outsider. By the way, it is set in 1936.
Love your reactions! Here is a short list of films I think you might enjoy reviewing. Maybe you have already done reviews on some, but any way:
Heat with DeNiro and Al Pacino, a crime drama; Body Heat with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Ted Danson, and a young Mickey Rourke; LA Confidential with Kim Basinger, Russel Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Guy Pearce, another neo-noir; Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman; The Graduate, another Hoffman film and a kind of coming of age in the early '60s theme; and yet another Dustin Hoffman film, LIttle Big Man co-starring Faye Dunaway; Cool Hand Luke, a prison chain gang story starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy; and, finally, The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Happy viewing!
I’ve seen all of your movie suggestions. Heat and LA Confidential are masterpieces (in my opinion) but the others are also pretty good. I’m sure that you can remember the famous line from Marathon Man: “Is is safe?” 😀
C’mon Frank. Shan can’t do Body Heat. He’d be blushing for half the film. 😝 Just kidding. Love to see it.
@@michaelsegriff3362 I know, what you mean 😁 Kathleen Turner made it difficult for me to concentrate about the plot. I think, I had a crush on her in the following weeks, after I had seen the movie. Would love to see a reaction on that one too.
@@prebenpoejensen8256 And the plot was damned great! But Kathleen was slammin’. The musical score was fantastic and atmospheric, and even if you saw the movie in winter, you just felt like perspiring. Ted Danson in it as well. I saw the film in the theater when I was early twenties, and during some of the scenes, I felt like I shouldn’t have been allowed in! 😝Stay well !
@@michaelsegriff3362 It's a little steamy alright. Kathleen Turner in her prime!
May I suggest the excellent thriller, The Parallax View (1974). An exercise in political paranoia starring Warren Beatty that I think will stimulate some interesting analysis from you. Thanks for another great review Shan!
I always enjoy your reactions, and today I got to watch two: Demolition Man and Chinatown! Also, my ex-brother-in-law dropped dead. It has truly been a wonderful day!
The ending for Faye Dunaway makes a reference to one of her other classic films-Bonnie and Clyde (1967.)
Roosevelt was President in the 30's & 40's NOT the 50's
I'm surprised you didn't notice (or at least mention) the Legendary John Huston as Noah Cross
This script is considered one of the greatest ever written; it is used for training writers and filmmakers. It is one of those which reveal more depth and detail on every viewing.
Yes, this film only gets better with rewatching. As far as I am concerned, it is flawless.