It's a master class in Noir. The gritty underbelly of life where powerful entitled usually get away with everything. La the kind of illusion is the perfect backdrop imo. Loved your reaction.
"Okie" was a pejorative term for the agricultural workers who migrated to southern California and the Central Valley from the Plains states like Oklahoma during the "Dust Bowl" years which coincided with the Great Depression. _L. A. Confidential_ is great movie to watch after this, another neo noir full of twists, also loosely based on actual events in Los Angeles, set about twenty years later, with a stellar cast and another Jerry Goldsmith score.
Yes, in order to grasp the full meaning of that he should watch "The Grapes of Wrath" (John Steinbeck novel) with Henry Fonda, one hell of a movie. I think its like #65 on one all time greatest movie list. I think it was 21 on AFI original top 100 movies of all time.
@@FlixTalk Also the man most responsible for LA's water in the early 20th century, and who actually built a dam that collapsed and killed almost 500 people...interestingly and relevant here, I think, his name was MULholland. You've probably driven on the road named for him.
This movie has been highly praised, heavily studied and paid homage to by many movie directors. cinematographers, writers, actors and musicians. Jerry Goldsmith's score for this film is classy and threatening at the same time. Roman Polanski's on-screen scene as the switchblade midget is the perfect touch.
Flix Talk "You either bring L.A. to the water or you bring the water to L.A" That line gives me chills. Roman Polanski wrote the bleak ending because his wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Manson a few years earlier. Robert Towne the other writer wanted it to be a happy ending but Polanski was right to end it this way.
@@nihilioellipsis I think his grandmother died in the Holocaust. Yes, bleak endings done right are amazing. Usually Hollywood ends on a happy note but Polanski is European with European sensibilities which makes for better films. Think Rome Open City, Shoeshine, Germany Year Zero, Vivre Sa Vie, Love And Anarchy, The Executioner, Los Olvidados etc All sad endings. It's more powerful and resonates more.
Another Jack Nicholson film from the earlier years would be "The Last Detail." Robert Town also wrote the screenplay. Another amazing performance by Jack.
Chinatown got 11 Oscar nominations but only won one for Robert Towne for Best Original Screenplay. John Huston who played Evelyn Mulray's dad Noah Cross is also a great director who directed classics like The Maltese Falcon. In fact, John Huston was in a creature feature himself three years later in 1977. The movie is called TENTACLES which is about a giant killer octopus! John Huston plays a reporter in that one and shares the screen with Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda. I will order that movie for you next time David! That will definitely be a fun reaction! 😄
Older movies that tied everything up at the end -- good guys prevailed -- was the result of the Hayes code, a policy that movie studios had conform to in order to get their movies shown in the movie houses. In 1970 the Hayes code was abandoned, so the movies could have more realism and explore subjects that had been off-limits since 1933.
That was the ending they originally wanted, Faye Dunaway killing Noah Cross, but Polanski and Nicholson changed it to what you saw. Also, a topnotch screenplay by Robert Towne (Days of Thunder, Mission Impossible, Frantic, The Yakuza, The Parallax View, Bonnie and Clyde). I highly recommend viewing The Parallax View and The Yakuza. I also recommend Polanski's movie 1988's Frantic with Harrison Ford. It has a great Hitchcock feel to it. Great reaction.
During the depression there also was 'The dust bowl" in the midwest. People headed west to California for a chance to get a job as farmers/ pickers.... That's where the accents come from
In the end, Jake fucked up. He talked to too many people and revealed what he was after. He walked into one trap after another, traps set by Noah Cross, who said, "You may think you know what you're dealing with -- but believe me, you don't." He should have taken the warning. Have I got a P.I. L.A. movie for you! Harper (1966). Paul Newman as the P.I., Janet Leigh as his estranged wife, Shelley Winters as an old, drunk former movie star, Lauren Bacall as the awful rich lady who hires Harper, Julie Harris as a singer-junkie, Robert Wagner -- young and handsome -- as a hanger-on. And there's a bad guy named Claude (Strother Martin). And the actor who played Claude (Roy Jenson) in Chinatown is in Harper as well. But the greatest star of the movie is a 1955 Porsche Speedster.
Other great early Nicholson roles: EASY RIDER (1969, Dennis Hopper), FIVE EASY PIECES (1970, Bob Rafelson), THE LAST DETAIL (1973, Hal Ashby), and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975, Milos Forman). Before making it big, Nicholson was kicking around as a struggling actor in many low budget films of dubious quality, the most fun of which is THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960, Roger Corman) - if the title sounds familiar that's because it was adapted into a very successful stage musical which itself was filmed in 1986 (I recommend the musical too... Steve Martin plays the Nicholson role!)
Noir films (and TV shows) usually have nothing to do with justice. They're about the dark past beneath a city, and shadowy / morally neutral characters disturbing the peace of old secrets. The price tends to be much higher than in an ordinary drama. Everyone who likes noir should check out the 2005 film "Brick" to see this kind of storytelling put into a very unusual context.
In the 30s and 40s many people migrated to California from all over the US especially from Oklahoma. This was the basis for John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" where people from OK went to CA to pick grapes. The novel was published in 1939 and was made into a movie a year later by legendary director John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Definitely a movie to checkout if you ever want to go back that far.
I loved your face when Faye is shot in the car and you can’t believe there’s no happy ending here. You were slapped by Polanski exactly in the way he intended to slap his 1974 audience.
I love Chinatown, can totally identify with Jake Gettes perspective…. The things I’ve seen people do to their friends and even their own family for money and power…. This movie is a heavy dose of reality.
New to your channel (joined couple of days ago). Really enjoy your choice of films to post, your reactions and analysis. I have to say: Chinatown is one of my alltime favorites. The screenplay might be one of the most analyzed in movie history (deservedly so). Style/acting/you name it is A+ all the way. All I can add: I was 19 when I saw this movie when it was released in theaters (1974), and was dating a 24-year-old. I considered myself pretty "sophisticated"........but when the "she's my sister, she's my daughter, she's my sister" scene played out, it didn't compute.........right away. And then the "Ohhhhhhhhh.......that's what happened" moment. I realized at that point, there was a LOT more growing up for me to do. ................Keep up the good work.
The Sheep Herder was Ron Howards dad (Director.....played Opie on Andy Griffith show). This is one of my top 10 film all time. Also, the Old Man is John Huston, great director who directed the Maltese Falcon as his first ever movie. P.S. Switchblade Midget was Roman Polanski.
I remember reading that Jack Nicholson was actually dating John Huston's daughter Angelica at the time of filming this movie so apparently the tension you see in the scenes where they're together is real. lmao
The music score was brilliant. Jerry Goldsmith was nominated for an Oscar for his original score. Goldsmith knew how to create tension with the use sparse instrumentation as well as huge symphonic sounds. He's one of the great American film composers only rivaled by a few like John Williams and John Barry. So, with all due respect to your opinion which you are entitled to, I disagree with your opinion of the score.
At 22:36 Jack Nicholson's character called them "Dumb Okies" because these farmers came from Oklahoma to flee from the consequences of the "Dust Bowl" drought in Oklahoma that resulted in Oklahoma farmers losing their farmers confiscated by the banks to which they owed the balance of their mortgage. They defaulted on their farm loans because the drought made their land unproductive. They had no food to sell, thus, no money to pay back their loans. So they fled to California, and when they arrived, they were met with persecution from native Californian's for being "Dumb Okies" and were taken advantage of by businessmen who new they were in a desperate situation with no money and little education. The movie "Grapes of Wrath" (1940) starring Henry Fonda depicts the affect of the Dust Bowl on one such Oklahoman family. It well worth watching. China Town is a loose fictional depiction of California water history that took advantage over struggling farmers by deception over water usage. Politicians promised water to the farmers but in the end, they diverted water away from the farmers, and in one instance of real history, destroyed an entire town that previous was prosperous and thriving, and today is an uninhabited ghost town. In 1904, three Los Angeles engineers - William Mulholland (Mulholland Drive named after him) Frederick Eaton and J.B. Lippincott - developed a plan for future sources of water for the thirsty city. The men recommended construction of a 233-mile-long aqueduct from the Owens River to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Owens River was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, causing the Owens lake to dry up.
I think a prior comment touched on how this movie is loosely based on the actual history of the L.A. water supply, with Hollis Mulray being based on William Mulholland and Noah Cross being based on Fred Eaton. Without the L.A. Aqueduct, which stole water from the Owens River Valley and its farmers, the city of L.A. would not have grown much past the population it reached around 1920. The dam failure mentioned at the beginning of the movie is based on the St. Francis Dam, which was part of the aqueduct project and which failed in 1928 killing over 400 people. For more reading about the water supply of L.A. and the rest of the American west I highly recommend the book Cadillac Desert. If you want something lighter, Drunk History did a video about the L.A. Aqueduct featuring Jack Black. This movie gets 5 out of 5 stars from me. It's one of my favorite movies. The way it builds to that catastrophic ending is simply incredible.
Favorites from Roman Polanski are: Rosemary's Baby, Frantic, The Tenant. Death and the Maiden, Tess. All great by this highly talented, privately controversial and tragically haunted movie director. His actress wife was one of Charles Manson's victims.
"Rosemary's Baby" is reaction video gold. I'd add "The Pianist". And, although not necessarily for this channel, "Knife In The Water", "Cul De Sac" and "Repulsion" are all top-shelf masterpieces, "Knife In The Water" is one hell of a debut!!!!! I actually finally just saw "Frantic" during the pandemic! It was good!
I have a guilty fondness for the horror parody _The Fearless Vampire Killers_ (1967), although the American prints had 20 min cut, some actors unnecessarily dubbed, and the title changed from _Dance of the Vampires_ . Polanski wrote, directed, and starred along with future wife Sharon Tate.
20:33 - THIS is why I KNEW you were going to do a great reaction to this! I was going to ask you to explain the Valley to the rest of us! Then immediately followed by more gunshot reactions! Awesome!!!!!!! :D Anyways: there it is. They drove off the farmers to develop the land....make it into Smog City. It's in your remarks....and then right there in the movie. As you say: it sucks. What can we do about it? Forget it.....it's Chinatown.....nothing we can do about it, forces too big to fight. DAMN! Great friggin' reaction to this movie! I love this movie MORE after seeing this reaction. PS: The Okies were from Oklahoma; they were driven out by the "dust bowl" and made their way to California to work in the orange groves (and themselves exploited and treated as second class citizens....almost like refugees)
Hollis Mulwray is supposed to be a sketch on William Mulholland. Noah Cross represents the evil spirit of Los Angeles, probably. Anyone who loves LA will dig this film. A ghastly ending, but that's the 70s for ya!
That nose cut always looks so freaking painful, “The Pianist” from 2002 is my favorite film of his, it made me a fan of Adrien Brody, excellent excellent film , thanks again!
Quentin would be PROUD you wore that hat as you watched this movie! He loves this movie! GREAT reaction, man!!!!! First viewing of this movie is just unraveling the mystery.....repeat viewings always reveal something new. It took me years to fully process the ending: Jake is always one step behind. We THINK he's one step AHEAD....because we're conditioned to that from the movies! As you rightly say: he's the classic P.I. we recognize from pop culture! But he - like us - never really knows what he's up against....which is a corrupt system to the very heart. And the last line is basically saying: there's nothing you can do about it. It's been this way and it ain't ever going to change. They own the water, for chrissake! If they want to screw their own daughters, maybe even granddaughters, there's nothing you can do about it, he's going to get away with it. Why Chinatown? A symbol for an uncomfortable truth about America, perhaps. An exploited people who had built the railroads and are the butt of jokes (Jake tells at least two jokes in the film), they're the servants......they live crammed in a ghetto where, as we learn, corruption is rampant. It's a situation and environment beyond anyone's control, other than the forces that created and kept it that way. How does one man fight that? "Forget it....it's Chinatown.....it ain't ever going to change". That's what that last line means to me.....although it took me YEARS to really get it that articulate. Applies to these times which are getting as cynical as the mid 70s was. Great movie, AMAZING script by Robert Towne, Polanski at the height of his powers.....and Jack Nicholson notching up yet another great performance in a string of them. His next one, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", is probably his best one, definitely one of them and his most "iconic" to use that over-used word (but totally applicable here). GREAT REACTION!!!!!!! THANK YOU!
Early Jack Nicholson: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is the obvious next choice :it was his next movie, and still one of his most iconic roles. That's a movie for EVERY reaction channel. But YOU could definitely handle "Carnal Knowledge" (which is a comedy-drama, from 1971). That movie only certain reactors can do, and I think you're one of them. The only other reactors who could do that movie I can think of off the top of my head would be Shan's channel, James' channel and ReactWithMike. Others will say "The Last Detail" which is also good. I'm sure that and "Cuckoo's Nest" will be the ones most people will say for early Jack. I don't know if you'd like "Five Easy Pieces" nor "Easy Rider", but I'm pretty sure you'll "get" "Carnal Knowledge" and appreciate what's great about it. And DEFINITELY "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is a must-see for ANY channel.
@randywhite3947 Fair enough, I knew that, but I was trying to talk shorthand: It's his next major movie (I'm not going to have him watch "The Fortune" or his "Tommy" cameo, or put him to sleep watching "The Passenger") (I like those movies, but it's his next major movie.) One is 1974, the other 1975, he got nominated for both back to back. (And he got nominated for Last Detail in '73, so actually three consecutive nominations, on top of his '69, '70 and '71 nominations)
@randywhite3947 Don't know what happened to this comment when I went to edit a typo....so I'll post it again. Your question: how do I know he would fall asleep to The Passenger? Because I think he will. Because I've seen the movie. Because there are ten thousand other Nicholson movies I think he'd like better. Because "The Passenger" isn't THAT great. It's ok, but give me a break. It's not Antonioni's best film, or Nicholson's, or even Maria Schneider's. Why do you have a bug up your ass about "The Passenger"? It's not essential Jack, sorry. I'm not sure Jack himself doesn't feel the same way: he took it out of circulation for decades (he owns the rights). Anything else, Randy, or are we going to go back and forth over Nicholson's career forever? First get the many, many staples of his career, then go back and fill in with "The Fortune" and "The Passenger" and "Tommy" (and lots of other movies, including some garbage he did in the 80s and 90s that people are always citing because they stay in the shallow end of the pool and don't know any better. But, to your credit, you don't seem to be one of those.
Oh PS: I don't think ANYONE would do a particularly good reaction to "The Passenger". Some movies are not reaction video material. I love "The Tree Of Life", I don't think that would make a great reaction video. I love "My Dinner With Andre", I don't think that would make a great reaction video. Or "Last Tango In Paris", speaking of Maria. Or "8 1/2", one of my favorites. Some stuff you just have to watch and not talk over.
There was a sequel to this, I think in 1983 or 1984. The Two Jakes starred Nicholson again and he also directed it. It was a good movie, unfortunately, released too late and did not make a profit. It fared best as video rentals and cable television airings.
Watch "The Two Jakes", should you get the opportunity; it's a sequel, so it isn't quite as good, but it's just as convoluted and I for one, enjoyed it as much as I did "Chinatown"!
To deepen her shame and guilt the sex between Evelyn and herfather was consensual. She shakes her head when.Gittes asks point blank if it was rape. She also phrased the "my father and i... " Comment oddly if it had been rape. Rape is "My father..." Of course how,much informed consent can a girl of 15 give?
There is no problem with the score. The entire movie has been judged as ranking in the top 2 or 3 movies ever filmed. As an aside, the “midget” (Director Roman Polanski) not long after this had sex with a 15 year old actress and fled the USA where he was convicted in abstenia of statutory rape. Whether he has ever returned to the US I do not know. John Huston, “Noah Cross” is perhaps the greatest director to have ever lived. For my money, Otto Preminger (“In Harms Way” a masterpiece of filmmaking) is right there with Huston.
(01) I think my favorite part of the movie is the sequence where they cut Gittes nostril. Not because I enjoyed it, but because I admire how simple it is. I've seen so many violent movies that go to such complicated lengths to get a rise out me, yet I find this one more effective then any of them, and it gets under my skin by basically doing nothing. (02) My favorite part of the reaction: 27:56: "Also, this movie's called 'Chinatown', are we ever going to go to Chinatown?" Me: *Film's ending flashes before my eyes* um ... yes ... (03) Actually, there's a really good 2010 film from Polanski that stars Ewan McGregor called "The Ghost Writer". (04) Now that you've seen "Chinatown", it might be worth it to check out "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" if you haven't already. It's a send up of Private Eye Noir films, and the plot barrows pretty heavily from "Chinatown".
When you say "most people might not care for this"... Who are most people? People your age?, Millenial's or younger? I think you might be selling people short. Great acting, writing and filmmaking are ageless. What sells at the box office, I.E. Marvel, DC universe crap. Those aren't films, they are CGI video games and theme park rides disguised as movies and intended for people with ADHD. I am glad you are watching actual "films" and hopefully sharing them with people who might not otherwise be exposed to them. Seems like you have good taste.
@@FlixTalk , I hope I didn't offend you with my rant! I think a lot of people born in the 1990's or later have ADHD. Although my ex wife was born in the 60's and she has it! Her favorite movies are the Sharknado's and anything with Zombies... Lol.
Your ideas about "justice" at the end of the movie would have RUINED it! The reason this screenplay is so good is because it DID NOT have the usual ending of the bad guy getting done in somehow. Instead, this film left you with a totally different emotional reaction. . .Which is why it's a classic and NOT just a run of the mill detective film.
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." The Two Jakes (1990) is the sequel and actually finishes what this movie started. Fun Fact: Rance Howard, who plays the role of an angry farmer at the council meeting, is the father of famed actor and director Ron Howard and the grandfather of Bryce Dallas Howard. Bonus Fact: The screenplay is now regarded as being one of the most perfect screenplays ever written and is now a main teaching point in screenwriting seminars and classes everywhere.
In the movie, the literal China Town was considered a place of crime and corruption by the non-Asian community. But the grotesque crime and corruption lives at the top. The power brokers swindle farmers out of their land by creating a false drought, in order to buy their land for pennies on the dollar. Then turn the land into prime real estate and become more powerful going forward. *Why? NOT for the money, but as Noah Cross (sounds like "Double Cross") says, "The future, Mr. Gittes. The future."* In the end, the film maker leaves the audience with the sinking feeling that despite efforts to the contrary, corruption of this type will continue, with the final line, "Forget it, Jake. It's China Town." In other words, LA will always be corrupt because of the incestuous relationship between law enforcement, the system, and the wealthy. The corrupt will always control the levers of power into the future.
I liked your reactions. . .except for your ridiculous bit about the score at one point. The music fit the moment just fine. . .And I'm sure you're being deluged with offers to write the score for the next Oscar-worthy film, right?????
Dude, I don't know how you end up liking this movie by the end....but so far I'm loving this reaction! Ha!!!!! Best reaction to the gunshots EVER. Oh man, I can't stop playing that over and over again.....and the nose cutting is right around the corner! lol
Lol when you have the levels turned up to 10 in the headphones , it's gonna happen haha I hate when audio mixing has low ass vocals and loud everything else
It's a master class in Noir. The gritty underbelly of life where powerful entitled usually get away with everything. La the kind of illusion is the perfect backdrop imo. Loved your reaction.
"Okie" was a pejorative term for the agricultural workers who migrated to southern California and the Central Valley from the Plains states like Oklahoma during the "Dust Bowl" years which coincided with the Great Depression. _L. A. Confidential_ is great movie to watch after this, another neo noir full of twists, also loosely based on actual events in Los Angeles, set about twenty years later, with a stellar cast and another Jerry Goldsmith score.
Ahhh thank you for that explanation! I've heard it before and thought it was a derogatory term. Wasn't sure
Yes, in order to grasp the full meaning of that he should watch "The Grapes of Wrath" (John Steinbeck novel) with Henry Fonda, one hell of a movie. I think its like #65 on one all time greatest movie list. I think it was 21 on AFI original top 100 movies of all time.
@@FlixTalk Also the man most responsible for LA's water in the early 20th century, and who actually built a dam that collapsed and killed almost 500 people...interestingly and relevant here, I think, his name was MULholland. You've probably driven on the road named for him.
This movie has been highly praised, heavily studied and paid homage to by many movie directors. cinematographers, writers, actors and musicians. Jerry Goldsmith's score for this film is classy and threatening at the same time. Roman Polanski's on-screen scene as the switchblade midget is the perfect touch.
Not to mention John Huston (who directed The Maltese Falcon) playing Noah Cross.
Flix Talk "You either bring L.A. to the water or you bring the water to L.A" That line gives me chills. Roman Polanski wrote the bleak ending because his wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Manson a few years earlier. Robert Towne the other writer wanted it to be a happy ending but Polanski was right to end it this way.
he also survived the holocaust. i'm a big believer in unhappy endings if they're done well. this one's at the top of my list.
@@nihilioellipsis I think his grandmother died in the Holocaust. Yes, bleak endings done right are amazing. Usually Hollywood ends on a happy note but Polanski is European with European sensibilities which makes for better films. Think Rome Open City, Shoeshine, Germany Year Zero, Vivre Sa Vie, Love And Anarchy, The Executioner, Los Olvidados etc All sad endings. It's more powerful and resonates more.
Another Jack Nicholson film from the earlier years would be "The Last Detail." Robert Town also wrote the screenplay. Another amazing performance by Jack.
Chinatown got 11 Oscar nominations but only won one for Robert Towne for Best Original Screenplay. John Huston who played Evelyn Mulray's dad Noah Cross is also a great director who directed classics like The Maltese Falcon. In fact, John Huston was in a creature feature himself three years later in 1977. The movie is called TENTACLES which is about a giant killer octopus! John Huston plays a reporter in that one and shares the screen with Shelley Winters and Henry Fonda. I will order that movie for you next time David! That will definitely be a fun reaction! 😄
John Huston in 'Myra Breckenridge' is a ridiculously over the top performance (in a film that is, itself, over the top)
Older movies that tied everything up at the end -- good guys prevailed -- was the result of the Hayes code, a policy that movie studios had conform to in order to get their movies shown in the movie houses. In 1970 the Hayes code was abandoned, so the movies could have more realism and explore subjects that had been off-limits since 1933.
That was the ending they originally wanted, Faye Dunaway killing Noah Cross, but Polanski and Nicholson changed it to what you saw. Also, a topnotch screenplay by Robert Towne (Days of Thunder, Mission Impossible, Frantic, The Yakuza, The Parallax View, Bonnie and Clyde). I highly recommend viewing The Parallax View and The Yakuza. I also recommend Polanski's movie 1988's Frantic with Harrison Ford. It has a great Hitchcock feel to it. Great reaction.
During the depression there also was 'The dust bowl" in the midwest.
People headed west to California for a chance to get a job as farmers/ pickers.... That's where the accents come from
48 years after this film the butler actor played the grandfather in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'.
Met him in a Hollywood bank. Only bothered to get two autographs in my life. One was James Huong, the complete professional.
In the end, Jake fucked up. He talked to too many people and revealed what he was after. He walked into one trap after another, traps set by Noah Cross, who said, "You may think you know what you're dealing with -- but believe me, you don't." He should have taken the warning.
Have I got a P.I. L.A. movie for you! Harper (1966). Paul Newman as the P.I., Janet Leigh as his estranged wife, Shelley Winters as an old, drunk former movie star, Lauren Bacall as the awful rich lady who hires Harper, Julie Harris as a singer-junkie, Robert Wagner -- young and handsome -- as a hanger-on. And there's a bad guy named Claude (Strother Martin). And the actor who played Claude (Roy Jenson) in Chinatown is in Harper as well. But the greatest star of the movie is a 1955 Porsche Speedster.
Other great early Nicholson roles: EASY RIDER (1969, Dennis Hopper), FIVE EASY PIECES (1970, Bob Rafelson), THE LAST DETAIL (1973, Hal Ashby), and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975, Milos Forman). Before making it big, Nicholson was kicking around as a struggling actor in many low budget films of dubious quality, the most fun of which is THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960, Roger Corman) - if the title sounds familiar that's because it was adapted into a very successful stage musical which itself was filmed in 1986 (I recommend the musical too... Steve Martin plays the Nicholson role!)
Just as you were dissing the score I was remembering how brilliant it was.
The score was fine but that one specific song was trash imo
One of the best
@@FlixTalk Ooh. I want the lyrics to that song. Unsettling mood mouseing I'd call it. A whole tone based row.
You wanted justice? Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.
Noir films (and TV shows) usually have nothing to do with justice. They're about the dark past beneath a city, and shadowy / morally neutral characters disturbing the peace of old secrets. The price tends to be much higher than in an ordinary drama. Everyone who likes noir should check out the 2005 film "Brick" to see this kind of storytelling put into a very unusual context.
In the 30s and 40s many people migrated to California from all over the US especially from Oklahoma. This was the basis for John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" where people from OK went to CA to pick grapes. The novel was published in 1939 and was made into a movie a year later by legendary director John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Definitely a movie to checkout if you ever want to go back that far.
The quintessential "Okie" film is John Ford's masterpiece THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Henry Fonda plays Tom Joad.
Oftentimes in reality justice is the colour of money and power...
I loved your face when Faye is shot in the car and you can’t believe there’s no happy ending here. You were slapped by Polanski exactly in the way he intended to slap his 1974 audience.
Love Jack Nicholson, still need to check this out.
Oh you will love his performance in this
The butler was in one episode of Seinfeld, too. He was the host at the Chinese restaurant calling "Cartwright!" instead of Costanza.
The ending is what usually occurs in real life
This movie is such a mood.
I love Chinatown, can totally identify with Jake Gettes perspective…. The things I’ve seen people do to their friends and even their own family for money and power…. This movie is a heavy dose of reality.
From the mid 60's to the late 70's many, many movies had downer endings. We often expect that when watching new films form this era.
It's a nice change of pace. Makes things more realistic
New to your channel (joined couple of days ago). Really enjoy your choice of films to post, your reactions and analysis. I have to say: Chinatown is one of my alltime favorites. The screenplay might be one of the most analyzed in movie history (deservedly so). Style/acting/you name it is A+ all the way. All I can add: I was 19 when I saw this movie when it was released in theaters (1974), and was dating a 24-year-old. I considered myself pretty "sophisticated"........but when the "she's my sister, she's my daughter, she's my sister" scene played out, it didn't compute.........right away. And then the "Ohhhhhhhhh.......that's what happened" moment. I realized at that point, there was a LOT more growing up for me to do. ................Keep up the good work.
The Sheep Herder was Ron Howards dad (Director.....played Opie on Andy Griffith show). This is one of my top 10 film all time. Also, the Old Man is John Huston, great director who directed the Maltese Falcon as his first ever movie. P.S. Switchblade Midget was Roman Polanski.
I remember reading that Jack Nicholson was actually dating John Huston's daughter Angelica at the time of filming this movie so apparently the tension you see in the scenes where they're together is real. lmao
The music score was brilliant. Jerry Goldsmith was nominated for an Oscar for his original score. Goldsmith knew how to create tension with the use sparse instrumentation as well as huge symphonic sounds. He's one of the great American film composers only rivaled by a few like John Williams and John Barry. So, with all due respect to your opinion which you are entitled to, I disagree with your opinion of the score.
At 22:36 Jack Nicholson's character called them "Dumb Okies" because these farmers came from Oklahoma to flee from the consequences of the "Dust Bowl" drought in Oklahoma that resulted in Oklahoma farmers losing their farmers confiscated by the banks to which they owed the balance of their mortgage. They defaulted on their farm loans because the drought made their land unproductive. They had no food to sell, thus, no money to pay back their loans. So they fled to California, and when they arrived, they were met with persecution from native Californian's for being "Dumb Okies" and were taken advantage of by businessmen who new they were in a desperate situation with no money and little education.
The movie "Grapes of Wrath" (1940) starring Henry Fonda depicts the affect of the Dust Bowl on one such Oklahoman family. It well worth watching.
China Town is a loose fictional depiction of California water history that took advantage over struggling farmers by deception over water usage. Politicians promised water to the farmers but in the end, they diverted water away from the farmers, and in one instance of real history, destroyed an entire town that previous was prosperous and thriving, and today is an uninhabited ghost town.
In 1904, three Los Angeles engineers - William Mulholland (Mulholland Drive named after him) Frederick Eaton and J.B. Lippincott - developed a plan for future sources of water for the thirsty city. The men recommended construction of a 233-mile-long aqueduct from the Owens River to Los Angeles. In 1913 the Owens River was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, causing the Owens lake to dry up.
“As little as possible”.. It breaks my heat every time..
No justice..
A perfect companion piece to this film is LA Confidential, another brilliant LA Noir. Both scored by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith.
I think a prior comment touched on how this movie is loosely based on the actual history of the L.A. water supply, with Hollis Mulray being based on William Mulholland and Noah Cross being based on Fred Eaton. Without the L.A. Aqueduct, which stole water from the Owens River Valley and its farmers, the city of L.A. would not have grown much past the population it reached around 1920. The dam failure mentioned at the beginning of the movie is based on the St. Francis Dam, which was part of the aqueduct project and which failed in 1928 killing over 400 people.
For more reading about the water supply of L.A. and the rest of the American west I highly recommend the book Cadillac Desert. If you want something lighter, Drunk History did a video about the L.A. Aqueduct featuring Jack Black.
This movie gets 5 out of 5 stars from me. It's one of my favorite movies. The way it builds to that catastrophic ending is simply incredible.
Another top Polanski film worth watching is “Frantic”. A mystery/thriller staring Harrison Ford with some strong Hitchcock vibes.
The "Switchblade Midget" is portrayed by the director of this movie!
Favorites from Roman Polanski are: Rosemary's Baby, Frantic, The Tenant. Death and the Maiden, Tess. All great by this highly talented, privately controversial and tragically haunted movie director. His actress wife was one of Charles Manson's victims.
"Rosemary's Baby" is reaction video gold. I'd add "The Pianist". And, although not necessarily for this channel, "Knife In The Water", "Cul De Sac" and "Repulsion" are all top-shelf masterpieces, "Knife In The Water" is one hell of a debut!!!!! I actually finally just saw "Frantic" during the pandemic! It was good!
@@TTM9691 ... A Big YES to both Cul de Sac and Repulsion!
I have a guilty fondness for the horror parody _The Fearless Vampire Killers_ (1967), although the American prints had 20 min cut, some actors unnecessarily dubbed, and the title changed from _Dance of the Vampires_ . Polanski wrote, directed, and starred along with future wife Sharon Tate.
26:40 It's not a blooper. When Faye Dunaway accidentally honks the car horn with her head it actually foreshadows her death.
Greatest last line ever
If someone didn’t mention already, Roman Polanski is the “midget” with the switchblade that slices his nose.
26:40 It’s not a blooper. It’s foreshadowing.
20:33 - THIS is why I KNEW you were going to do a great reaction to this! I was going to ask you to explain the Valley to the rest of us! Then immediately followed by more gunshot reactions! Awesome!!!!!!! :D Anyways: there it is. They drove off the farmers to develop the land....make it into Smog City. It's in your remarks....and then right there in the movie. As you say: it sucks. What can we do about it? Forget it.....it's Chinatown.....nothing we can do about it, forces too big to fight. DAMN! Great friggin' reaction to this movie! I love this movie MORE after seeing this reaction. PS: The Okies were from Oklahoma; they were driven out by the "dust bowl" and made their way to California to work in the orange groves (and themselves exploited and treated as second class citizens....almost like refugees)
Vampire Killers...
Hollis Mulwray is supposed to be a sketch on William Mulholland. Noah Cross represents the evil spirit of Los Angeles, probably. Anyone who loves LA will dig this film. A ghastly ending, but that's the 70s for ya!
That nose cut always looks so freaking painful, “The Pianist” from 2002 is my favorite film of his, it made me a fan of Adrien Brody, excellent excellent film , thanks again!
I'll have to check that one out with Adrian Brody soon
Faye Dunaway in "Bonnie and Clyde" is one of the most beautiful women on film. gotta see if you're a real movie buff. very influential movie
Roman Polanski is...a big subject. you should read up...
Noah Cross is played by the legendary director John Huston. A study of evil.
His line "I don't blame myself" is evil incarnate.
Quentin would be PROUD you wore that hat as you watched this movie! He loves this movie! GREAT reaction, man!!!!! First viewing of this movie is just unraveling the mystery.....repeat viewings always reveal something new. It took me years to fully process the ending: Jake is always one step behind. We THINK he's one step AHEAD....because we're conditioned to that from the movies! As you rightly say: he's the classic P.I. we recognize from pop culture! But he - like us - never really knows what he's up against....which is a corrupt system to the very heart. And the last line is basically saying: there's nothing you can do about it. It's been this way and it ain't ever going to change. They own the water, for chrissake! If they want to screw their own daughters, maybe even granddaughters, there's nothing you can do about it, he's going to get away with it. Why Chinatown? A symbol for an uncomfortable truth about America, perhaps. An exploited people who had built the railroads and are the butt of jokes (Jake tells at least two jokes in the film), they're the servants......they live crammed in a ghetto where, as we learn, corruption is rampant. It's a situation and environment beyond anyone's control, other than the forces that created and kept it that way. How does one man fight that? "Forget it....it's Chinatown.....it ain't ever going to change". That's what that last line means to me.....although it took me YEARS to really get it that articulate. Applies to these times which are getting as cynical as the mid 70s was. Great movie, AMAZING script by Robert Towne, Polanski at the height of his powers.....and Jack Nicholson notching up yet another great performance in a string of them. His next one, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", is probably his best one, definitely one of them and his most "iconic" to use that over-used word (but totally applicable here). GREAT REACTION!!!!!!! THANK YOU!
Thank you for the amazing comment! I also knew that about QT but coincidentally wore the hat haha he is a genius
Early Jack Nicholson: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is the obvious next choice :it was his next movie, and still one of his most iconic roles. That's a movie for EVERY reaction channel. But YOU could definitely handle "Carnal Knowledge" (which is a comedy-drama, from 1971). That movie only certain reactors can do, and I think you're one of them. The only other reactors who could do that movie I can think of off the top of my head would be Shan's channel, James' channel and ReactWithMike. Others will say "The Last Detail" which is also good. I'm sure that and "Cuckoo's Nest" will be the ones most people will say for early Jack. I don't know if you'd like "Five Easy Pieces" nor "Easy Rider", but I'm pretty sure you'll "get" "Carnal Knowledge" and appreciate what's great about it. And DEFINITELY "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is a must-see for ANY channel.
Thanks for watching! I'll look into those recommendations my friend
@randywhite3947 Fair enough, I knew that, but I was trying to talk shorthand: It's his next major movie (I'm not going to have him watch "The Fortune" or his "Tommy" cameo, or put him to sleep watching "The Passenger") (I like those movies, but it's his next major movie.) One is 1974, the other 1975, he got nominated for both back to back. (And he got nominated for Last Detail in '73, so actually three consecutive nominations, on top of his '69, '70 and '71 nominations)
@randywhite3947 Don't know what happened to this comment when I went to edit a typo....so I'll post it again. Your question: how do I know he would fall asleep to The Passenger? Because I think he will. Because I've seen the movie. Because there are ten thousand other Nicholson movies I think he'd like better. Because "The Passenger" isn't THAT great. It's ok, but give me a break. It's not Antonioni's best film, or Nicholson's, or even Maria Schneider's. Why do you have a bug up your ass about "The Passenger"? It's not essential Jack, sorry. I'm not sure Jack himself doesn't feel the same way: he took it out of circulation for decades (he owns the rights). Anything else, Randy, or are we going to go back and forth over Nicholson's career forever? First get the many, many staples of his career, then go back and fill in with "The Fortune" and "The Passenger" and "Tommy" (and lots of other movies, including some garbage he did in the 80s and 90s that people are always citing because they stay in the shallow end of the pool and don't know any better. But, to your credit, you don't seem to be one of those.
Oh PS: I don't think ANYONE would do a particularly good reaction to "The Passenger". Some movies are not reaction video material. I love "The Tree Of Life", I don't think that would make a great reaction video. I love "My Dinner With Andre", I don't think that would make a great reaction video. Or "Last Tango In Paris", speaking of Maria. Or "8 1/2", one of my favorites. Some stuff you just have to watch and not talk over.
Another great LA modern Noir film is LA Confidential. Try it, too.
There was a sequel to this, I think in 1983 or 1984. The Two Jakes starred Nicholson again and he also directed it. It was a good movie, unfortunately, released too late and did not make a profit. It fared best as video rentals and cable television airings.
Watch "The Two Jakes", should you get the opportunity; it's a sequel, so it isn't quite as good, but it's just as convoluted and I for one, enjoyed it as much as I did "Chinatown"!
Faye got done away. I'll see myself out now
To deepen her shame and guilt the sex between Evelyn and herfather was consensual. She shakes her head when.Gittes asks point blank if it was rape. She also phrased the "my father and i... " Comment oddly if it had been rape. Rape is "My father..."
Of course how,much informed consent can a girl of 15 give?
There is no problem with the score. The entire movie has been judged as ranking in the top 2 or 3 movies ever filmed. As an aside, the “midget” (Director Roman Polanski) not long after this had sex with a 15 year old actress and fled the USA where he was convicted in abstenia of statutory rape. Whether he has ever returned to the US I do not know. John Huston, “Noah Cross” is perhaps the greatest director to have ever lived. For my money, Otto Preminger (“In Harms Way” a masterpiece of filmmaking) is right there with Huston.
(01) I think my favorite part of the movie is the sequence where they cut Gittes nostril. Not because I enjoyed it, but because I admire how simple it is. I've seen so many violent movies that go to such complicated lengths to get a rise out me, yet I find this one more effective then any of them, and it gets under my skin by basically doing nothing.
(02) My favorite part of the reaction: 27:56: "Also, this movie's called 'Chinatown', are we ever going to go to Chinatown?" Me: *Film's ending flashes before my eyes* um ... yes ...
(03) Actually, there's a really good 2010 film from Polanski that stars Ewan McGregor called "The Ghost Writer".
(04) Now that you've seen "Chinatown", it might be worth it to check out "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" if you haven't already. It's a send up of Private Eye Noir films, and the plot barrows pretty heavily from "Chinatown".
First time I've ever heard someone say the SCORE (Nominated for an Oscar) to this movie sucked!!
When you say "most people might not care for this"... Who are most people? People your age?, Millenial's or younger? I think you might be selling people short. Great acting, writing and filmmaking are ageless. What sells at the box office, I.E. Marvel, DC universe crap. Those aren't films, they are CGI video games and theme park rides disguised as movies and intended for people with ADHD. I am glad you are watching actual "films" and hopefully sharing them with people who might not otherwise be exposed to them. Seems like you have good taste.
Well I actually have ADHD so maybe thats why I enjoy them lol
@@FlixTalk , I hope I didn't offend you with my rant! I think a lot of people born in the 1990's or later have ADHD. Although my ex wife was born in the 60's and she has it! Her favorite movies are the Sharknado's and anything with Zombies... Lol.
@@j.kevvideoproductions.6463 no worries at all lol. I'm not easily offended but thank you for watching!
Your ideas about "justice" at the end of the movie would have RUINED it! The reason this screenplay is so good is because it DID NOT have the usual ending of the bad guy getting done in somehow. Instead, this film left you with a totally different emotional reaction. . .Which is why it's a classic and NOT just a run of the mill detective film.
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
The Two Jakes (1990) is the sequel and actually finishes what this movie started.
Fun Fact: Rance Howard, who plays the role of an angry farmer at the council meeting, is the father of famed actor and director Ron Howard and the grandfather of Bryce Dallas Howard.
Bonus Fact: The screenplay is now regarded as being one of the most perfect screenplays ever written and is now a main teaching point in screenwriting seminars and classes everywhere.
Oh wow I'll have to check out the sequel thanks
In the movie, the literal China Town was considered a place of crime and corruption by the non-Asian community. But the grotesque crime and corruption lives at the top. The power brokers swindle farmers out of their land by creating a false drought, in order to buy their land for pennies on the dollar. Then turn the land into prime real estate and become more powerful going forward. *Why? NOT for the money, but as Noah Cross (sounds like "Double Cross") says, "The future, Mr. Gittes. The future."* In the end, the film maker leaves the audience with the sinking feeling that despite efforts to the contrary, corruption of this type will continue, with the final line, "Forget it, Jake. It's China Town." In other words, LA will always be corrupt because of the incestuous relationship between law enforcement, the system, and the wealthy. The corrupt will always control the levers of power into the future.
I liked your reactions. . .except for your ridiculous bit about the score at one point. The music fit the moment just fine. . .And I'm sure you're being deluged with offers to write the score for the next Oscar-worthy film, right?????
reaction leon the Professional 1994 movie thank you
Dude, I don't know how you end up liking this movie by the end....but so far I'm loving this reaction! Ha!!!!! Best reaction to the gunshots EVER. Oh man, I can't stop playing that over and over again.....and the nose cutting is right around the corner! lol
Lol when you have the levels turned up to 10 in the headphones , it's gonna happen haha I hate when audio mixing has low ass vocals and loud everything else
Not a blooper; foreshadowing.
What happened to your game of thrones reaction...sorry if it is been mentioned before
Why are you?
I know. THIS FILTH IS NOT ISMM US?
“Worst…ending…ever.” - my sister’s reaction when we finished watching this movie. We were a bit young to appreciate it, though.