Chinatown

Chinatown is an exciting and stylish crime film set in Los Angeles in 1937, where private detective Jake Gittes is hired to investigate the city engineer's possible infidelity, one of Gittes' routine cases - or so he thinks. It turns out, however, to be far more complicated. It is in fact a tangled, large-scale corruption affair connected with the city's water supply. Many people, including the city engineer, lose their lives because they know too much.

The dead man's wife, the wealthy Evelyn, becomes Jake's client, but she is hiding something from him. Evelyn's powerful father, Noah Cross, turns out to be the man behind it all, but that is not his only crime. The last scene takes place in lawless Chinatown, where Evelyn is shot and the man behind it all escapes further prosecution. Jake is outraged, but there is nothing to be done: "Forget it - this is Chinatown".

Chinatown is made in keeping with the classic film noir genre of the 1940s. In this neo-noir, too, the view of humanity is pitch black and the private detective fights a losing battle. Only the cinematography stands out. In a different way from black-and-white photography, the colour-saturated widescreen compositions help create an impression of a drought-stricken L.A.