Tripwire Reviews Chinatown 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

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Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews Chinatown 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition out on Blu Ray now…

Chinatown 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman

2024 is the fiftieth anniversary of Roman Polanski’s classic Chinatown film and so we have a restored 4K version in a box with a number of extras.

Its screenwriter Robert Towne has also just passed away so that makes it feel even more poignant.

Chinatown is an old school detective film starring Jack Nicholson as private investigator Jake Gittes who is hired by the wife of water scientist Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling), who is convinced that he is having an affair. But as with all good detective tales, nothing is as it seems and the real story here is about who controls the water in the city of Los Angeles. Chinatown also examines one of the greatest taboos in society even now: that of incest.

Chinatown is a film that is far richer and far more complex the more you dive beneath its elegant surface. Nicholson was already a name to contend with by this point thanks to appearances in films like Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces but Chinatown displayed a star quality and an onscreen versatility that hadn’t quite manifested itself up to this point. The film is his vehicle although Dunaway’s contributions can’t be overlooked here. Portraying the woman with the darkest secret who is not what she seems, the actress invests the role with a complex vulnerability even though her dramatic orbit means that there is a tragic inevitability to her final fate. Other cast choices like John Huston as her cruel and sadistic father Noah Cross and Perry Lopez as police detective Escobar lend it a little extra colour and depth. Huston particularly despite the fact that his screen time here is fairly short gives the film an extra gravitas and mood.

The film is set in 1940s Los Angeles and is a very modern take on a classic noir. Visually it is magnificent, making the most of the city’s unique topography. When it was originally released back in 1974, it was an unusual take as it feels like a throwback of sorts to a previous era in Hollywood. However, Polanski’s film noir is very much seen through a 1970s prism, shot in a similar style to his contemporaries like Coppola and Scorsese, although there is a faded majesty here to the portrayal of the city and its ill-starred inhabitants that feels unique to this film.

Chinatown is about power (literally and figuratively) and influence and how Gittes tries to navigate the choppy waters of both while still making a crust for himself. There is something magnetic about watching Nicholson on screen here with his boisterous charm and likeable arrogance. His chemistry with Dunaway is also exceptional here and her role is arguably as pivotal as his in Chinatown. There is a reason why she was such a visible part of 1970s cinema and her part here was a major contributing factor to her rise as an actress.

We mustn’t overlook the contribution of screenwriter and Polanski’s collaborator Robert Towne here either. His script contains some of the most memorable lines in modern Hollywood, imbuing Gittes with a distinct and idiosyncratic voice.

The 4K Ultra HD restoration here is glorious as it offers the viewer extra clarity and a visual vibrancy and an emphasised colour palette  that the film’s previous versions have lacked. Watching it once again in this new edition, you realise just how ingeniously it is all shot, edited and assembled.

The extras here are mostly legacy ones taken from the previous Blu Ray and DVD editions although the Sam Wasson video offers a little bit of extra context into the film’s place in cinema history. There is a lengthy video on the building of the city’s water pipe which feels for true completists only too. The making of videos are interesting though as is the commentary by screenwriter Robert Towne with director David Fincher, a man who is obviously a huge admirer of this work. The box set also includes a series of fun physical extras like Jake Gittes’ business card, a reproduction of the original movie poster and a set of postcards featuring black and white set photos. The second disc here features a regular version of the film plus its inferior sequel The Two Jakes.

Cinema is filled with noir tales as it’s a genre that has been a favourite almost since the dawn of the form but Chinatown is a unique beast and one that deserves to be celebrated with an edition like this.

Chinatown 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is out now