Chinatown: A Tediously Entertaining Story with an Irrelevant Title
This absurd fiction-made mystery from 1974 is well narrated and revealed with brilliance. This movie,
requires the viewer to get their detective hat to accompany Jake Gittes unravel a well-covered mystery
that starts with what seems one of his usual divorce cases at first glance. This movie seduces the
viewer’s intelligence by following through the investigation involving crime and corruption in an
intriguing and suspenseful manner with a cruel and unexpected ending proves how the director cleverly
plays with the audience. Since, throughout the film when Jake is on to something he has been tricked
and so has the viewer.
The detective, an everyman (Module II, 08) meets Evelyn, a strong woman that requires he investigates
her husband for infidelity. Jake reluctantly listens to Evelyn hoping to dismiss her as just another
common scenario of divorce investigation. Despite of the unpleasant nature of his business, Jake is not a
greedy man. Portrayed by Nicholson with his charming and explosive energy, and lack of emotion aids in
the tedious atmosphere. Therefore, the pace of the movie was carefully planned to be slow so when key
secrets were revealed, the viewer gets to connect the dots. Hence, the city does not seem busy where
rarely something happens. In addition, violence is subtle, there is no thrilling or terrifying factor to the
movie, the viewer is bound to accept that immutability by default. Therefore, the plot twist is the ongoing draught engineered by a corporation to make profit through a landgrab scheme. Therefore,
Mulwray — Evelyn’s husband was being framed for opposing it and Jake caught on to that during a
public meeting and after the infidelity goes public. Hence, Evelyn helps Jake although she is not being
forthcoming, adding to the slow-paced mystery. Furthermore, the more dirt Jake digs, the more secrets
he uncovers about the Mulray’s business dealings including his former partnership with Evelyn’s fatherNoah Cross. For this reason, Cross hires Jake as he thinks Jake might be sleeping with Evelyn. On the
other hand, when Jake learns Evelyn’s secret, he decides to play the hero and protect her. Then, he
makes arrangements for her and her sister to escape, sending them down to Chinatown. The place as
well as the idea, a symbol where the law is meaningless, also a symbol of corruption that has now
become part of society and now that the movie suggests, it is best not to inquire.
In other words, the layers of the mystery unraveled throughout the movie not only uncovers corruption
by corporate America, but also confirms the lengths these corporations take to make big and easy
profits. In addition, its attempt to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, the director sets the
revealing pace so slow that when the viewer finally gets to be committed into watching the movie is
when Evelyn reveals her secret. Then, it is already too late in the movie since that is one of the final
scenes and Jake gets to play the hero, which is exactly what the viewer expects. Therefore, the movie is
a two-hour long tease with not even one Chinese character. Hence, confirming the yellowface message
of the closing scene. As a result, it is not a movie to recommend to just anyone since it might seem to fit
Hollywood’s classic narrative style but it does not as it does not even stay under a running time of two
hours by an exceeding 11 minutes. Let alone, the unappealing looks of the main character who did not
even overcome forces of opposition by the end of the movie.