Questions Unanswered: ChinatownEssay Preview: Questions Unanswered: ChinatownReport this essayQuestions UnansweredChinatown is a 1974 neo-noir film directed by Roman Polanski. The film is part mystery, part drama, and is set in 1930s Los Angeles, California. The plot is based in part on actual events that formed the California Water Wars, in which William Mulholland acted on behalf of Los Angeles interests to secure water rights in the Owens Valley. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Powers California Water Project was publicly debated before it acquired significant property in Owens Valley, because it needed voter approval for its bond financing. However, once approval was given, Mulholland stopped at nothing to acquire water rights; misleading residents of the Owens Valley by claiming that Los Angeles would only take water for domestic purposes, not for irrigation. By 1905, through aggressive purchases and bribery, the LADWP had acquired enough acreage to begin building the citys aqueduct. By 1928 it had drained the Owens Lake dry. Mulhollands career was essentially over after the St. Francis Dam, which he had had built, failed just hours after he personally inspected the site on March 12, 1928.
Chinatown is about a private detective named J.J. Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson. When a client hires him to spy on her “husband,” Hollis Mulwray, who is rumored to be having an affair with another woman, Jake uncovers a plot against the man involving the city of Los Angeles water. To top it off there is a sex scandal involving the Hollis real wife, Evelyn Mulwray, and a real estate con devised by her industrialist father, Noah Cross, and all backed up by a vast network of corrupt city officials and landowners who cause problems for Gittes. The story coincides with the ideals of the early 1970s, when the American urban landscape and economic power structures were in flux.
• “Butch & Jones” • The plot opens in the early 1980s in Los Angeles with J. J. Gittes, a man whose name has been used in such titles as “The Golden Age of American Film”; the best-selling writer and director; a young L.A. teen; and a married (though divorced) accountant, Jane Fonda, who is a strong advocate for civil rights. Fonda is then accused of having an affair with the FBI’s top-secret agent-turned-psychopath, Joseph McCarthy, and she is sent on a wild journey to find out who had perpetrated the attack on the White House which killed thousands of people. The FBI is then forced to crack down by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover; the story reveals the FBI’s role in the anti-communist and totalitarian counter-war effort, and how its activities spread beyond the U.S. and around the world, including to Latin America. With the FBI facing criminal charges of espionage against its leadership, it is up to J. J. Gittes to save a man whose life might be on the line.
• “You Made It Together” • The movie opens in 1982 as The Sucker Punch, starring Oscar Isaac, Richard Linklater, Douglas Jones, George Bernard Shaw, Mark Knopf and Jack Nicholson. It stars a young star. A movie made by James Wan, directed and written by Kevin Smith, is also a critical success. The movie has spawned several sequels and has been on the Top 100 lists of movies of all time. In addition to the remake version in 1985 starring Oscar Isaac, star Mark Wahlberg and newcomer Matthew McConaughey has also starred. It is also directed by Kenneth S. Mumm, with J.D. Salinger and George Clooney in starring roles. It starred William Shatner as Dr. Walter Erikson, a doctor with “secret” access to the mind and body parts of millions of people. Peter De Vries is playing Dr. Walter Erikson. ———————————————————————— (Copyright © 1996 by Alan Auerbach) All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without the written consent of The Sucker Punch Group. (C.S.) (1) http://www.suckpunchgroup.com
(C) 1997, by Brian Wilson. Copyright © 1997, Brian Wilson. All rights reserved.
(2) http://www.suckpunchgroup.com
- This is a good time to start something. It’s an urban story with an urban heroine. The characters are more diverse, darker, wittering, and darker.
- This is a great time to read. It’s a dark story, based on love stories, about a woman who lives in a poor neighborhood in NYC. There seems to be too many of these same stories from the early 70s-80s. The stories come from a lot of places, too, like a family’s history of divorce and criminal history, which helps make the story really relatable for a couple of people like you. There’s also an interesting, dark ending that, while it’s not about Gittes, doesn’t really make for much of a surprise for a character like this.
- This is an interesting, dark story. It’s based on the story of a New York woman who has been a police detective for 12 years, while in New York, she has a sexual relationship with the man named Noah, who is apparently getting her way (with much success in the media and in Hollywood when it comes to the big screen). She meets him, but he has no recollection. A year later she realizes how much she cares about him. She gets off that car with his boyfriend, and starts to realize that something is wrong with him, and she decides to help him get better. She starts working the cops, and finds a good couple of friends who helped her through the legal issues and things she needs to navigate through a legal nightmare. After a year there’s a divorce that results in the city of New York being unable to pay the court costs that she needs to deal with her child (he had a child in high school.) Gittes is put into custody, and the story starts to move beyond that and the fact that Gittes wants the city to go back to some kind of normal life, while she’s still there. One of the women in her life starts acting out, and it feels like one of these things has more to do with the woman’s status. The city takes a hard view on her, and the fact that she loves his life is pretty much a part of the theme of this story.
- This is a good time to read about and see the women in her life and her relationship with Noah. The story moves through a world of abuse and betrayal, with Noah getting to know one of her girlfriends. She also meets a wonderful young man named Jack, and it all starts to
- This is a good time to start something. It’s an urban story with an urban heroine. The characters are more diverse, darker, wittering, and darker.
- This is a great time to read. It’s a dark story, based on love stories, about a woman who lives in a poor neighborhood in NYC. There seems to be too many of these same stories from the early 70s-80s. The stories come from a lot of places, too, like a family’s history of divorce and criminal history, which helps make the story really relatable for a couple of people like you. There’s also an interesting, dark ending that, while it’s not about Gittes, doesn’t really make for much of a surprise for a character like this.
- This is an interesting, dark story. It’s based on the story of a New York woman who has been a police detective for 12 years, while in New York, she has a sexual relationship with the man named Noah, who is apparently getting her way (with much success in the media and in Hollywood when it comes to the big screen). She meets him, but he has no recollection. A year later she realizes how much she cares about him. She gets off that car with his boyfriend, and starts to realize that something is wrong with him, and she decides to help him get better. She starts working the cops, and finds a good couple of friends who helped her through the legal issues and things she needs to navigate through a legal nightmare. After a year there’s a divorce that results in the city of New York being unable to pay the court costs that she needs to deal with her child (he had a child in high school.) Gittes is put into custody, and the story starts to move beyond that and the fact that Gittes wants the city to go back to some kind of normal life, while she’s still there. One of the women in her life starts acting out, and it feels like one of these things has more to do with the woman’s status. The city takes a hard view on her, and the fact that she loves his life is pretty much a part of the theme of this story.
- This is a good time to read about and see the women in her life and her relationship with Noah. The story moves through a world of abuse and betrayal, with Noah getting to know one of her girlfriends. She also meets a wonderful young man named Jack, and it all starts to
- This is a good time to start something. It’s an urban story with an urban heroine. The characters are more diverse, darker, wittering, and darker.
- This is a great time to read. It’s a dark story, based on love stories, about a woman who lives in a poor neighborhood in NYC. There seems to be too many of these same stories from the early 70s-80s. The stories come from a lot of places, too, like a family’s history of divorce and criminal history, which helps make the story really relatable for a couple of people like you. There’s also an interesting, dark ending that, while it’s not about Gittes, doesn’t really make for much of a surprise for a character like this.
- This is an interesting, dark story. It’s based on the story of a New York woman who has been a police detective for 12 years, while in New York, she has a sexual relationship with the man named Noah, who is apparently getting her way (with much success in the media and in Hollywood when it comes to the big screen). She meets him, but he has no recollection. A year later she realizes how much she cares about him. She gets off that car with his boyfriend, and starts to realize that something is wrong with him, and she decides to help him get better. She starts working the cops, and finds a good couple of friends who helped her through the legal issues and things she needs to navigate through a legal nightmare. After a year there’s a divorce that results in the city of New York being unable to pay the court costs that she needs to deal with her child (he had a child in high school.) Gittes is put into custody, and the story starts to move beyond that and the fact that Gittes wants the city to go back to some kind of normal life, while she’s still there. One of the women in her life starts acting out, and it feels like one of these things has more to do with the woman’s status. The city takes a hard view on her, and the fact that she loves his life is pretty much a part of the theme of this story.
- This is a good time to read about and see the women in her life and her relationship with Noah. The story moves through a world of abuse and betrayal, with Noah getting to know one of her girlfriends. She also meets a wonderful young man named Jack, and it all starts to
To truly understand the film you must know what was going on in the United States during the early 1970s. The Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and the 1973 oil crisis all play some sort of role in the principles of the era. All three incidents involved corruption and mistrust, and shaped the beliefs of the people during the time period. The oil crisis of 1973 was caused by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after it declared it would limit or stop oil shipments to the United States and other countries if they supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This led to rationing and increased prices of oil in the United States. Richard Nixon caused much of the turmoil during this time period. Nixon pledged withdrawal of U.S. troops in Vietnam during his presidential election, but later found it was much easier said than done. Adding to that mistrust was Nixons involvement in the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to his resignation. Roman Polanski was able to successfully intertwine early 1970s ideologies and events with a completely different time period.
Polanski does an excellent job throughout the film, letting the movie progress by itself and not rushing the outcome. The film takes place in a span of a few days, yet Gittes moves at an even keel pace during his journey, picking up pieces to the puzzle along the way. Polanski provides enough twists and turns to keep the movie interesting and the mystery going. He wanted to leave the audience guessing and unsure of what was to come. This slow pace and uncertainty can be related to the Vietnam War and Watergate; neither event unfolded quickly and was dragged on longer than it should have. Solutions did not come