Hindsight

Chinatown:  So what is the point?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine, following a viewing of the 1974 film, Chinatown, asked me "so what is the point?"  It seemed like an odd question at first, because to me the film seemed to have so many points, not just one.   We ended up talking more about the concept of how one looks at film, art, what is the point of anything?  Well, for me as much as I love to discuss a film, it is often a difficult topic for me to articulate.  Why?  Perhaps because I look at a film from multiple points of view.

One, as a fan.  Did the narrative pull you in, that movie rocked!  Or, the book is a lot better, they cast the wrong person, i.e. Ben Affleck in Gone Girl.  So, this is really what most of us do, judge the merit, did I like it or not? 

Two, as a film scholar, I tend to position the film within the canon of other films in the genre, the overall historical pull, 

Three, the narrative as social meaning or overall message of the production.  How does the film systematically inform the audience through framing, sound, mise en scene and editing? 

Fourth, little girl film geek, I can't even remember not know about classic Hollywood.  Like some kids know all the players on different teams, I was hooked on autobiographies of Ingrid Bergman, knew the intricacies of different studios, and, in general, developed an encyclopedic knowledge of films made within the American Studio System.  Would bicycle down to the campus showings, this was pre-cable, and films such as Casablanca, Maltese Falcon and Singing in the Rain would be shown for a buck.  

So, to my friend who discombobulated me with the simple question of "what is the point?" I offer four answers:  As a fan of the film Chinatown, my first gut response is "I love it".  The dialogue rang true, the acting was exciting, and the plot just took me for a ride. Plus, Hello...Jack Nicholson and John Huston?  

Fourth, the film is also a fantastical reworking of the 1940s and 1950s film noir, capturing the paranoia and despair fundamental to the genre, but yet informed through the political/social aspects of 1970s. 

Fifth,  the film's message, which is I am pretty sure was what my friend was asking....I guess for me the message is that people are complex, we have secrets, and greed always muddies the water, pun intended if you have seen the movie.  A subplot is that Jake (Nicholson) was a former police officer in Chinatown.  He once inadvertently risked, a woman he cared for, to be killed.  Because of this Jake becomes a PI, full of cynicism. So when he once again tries to save a woman (Faye Dunaway) and she is not protected, He is Psychologically wounded.  "Forget it Jake: It's Chinatown" is the only encouragement a fellow friend can offer.  There is thus the presumption that Jake will be even more cynical, and also that the layering of lies and mis-justice, that happens within the world of non-whites will prevail.  Chinatown is the place where evil can hide because no one cares.

Lastly, the little Juli, who first saw Chinatown in London, while abroad and slightly homesick, the film will always stand out as how the story is so American, even though the director Roman Polanski is not.  The California Locale, the flat West Coast accents, the sensibility and humor of people trying to survive within the desperation of American depression, all tinged with the question of what is the point?  While that young filmie lives inside me, these are the only answers I can muster.  The film just felt distinctly American, even though the title is about the displaced Chinese.  Maybe that is the point.  Aren't all Americans displaced?