Key Facts
full title · Chinatown
director · Roman Polanski
leading actors/actresses · Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
supporting actors/actresses · Darrell Zwerling, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Diane
Ladd, Roy Jenson, Joe Mantell
type of work · Feature film
genre · Film noir, neo-noir
language · English
time and place produced · California from late 1973 to
early 1974
awards · 1975 Academy Awards:
· Winner, Best Original Screenplay (Robert Towne)
· Nominated, Best Picture (Robert Evans)
· Nominated, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson)
· Nominated, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Faye Dunaway)
· Nominated, Best Director (Roman Polanski)
· Nominated, Best Cinematography (John Alonzo)
· Nominated, Best Film Editing (Sam O'Steen)
· Nominated, Best Art/Set Direction (Richard Sylbert,
W. Stewart Campbell, Ruby Levitt)
· Nominated, Best Costume Design (Anthea Sylbert)
· Nominated, Best Sound (Bud Grenzbach and Larry Jost)
· Nominated, Best Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith)
· 1975 Golden Globes
· Winner, Best Picture, Drama (Robert Evans)
· Winner, Best Director (Roman Polanski)
· Winner, Best Actor, Drama (Jack Nicholson)
· Winner, Best Screenplay (Robert Towne)
· Nominated, Best Actress, Drama (Faye Dunaway)
· Nominated, Best Supporting Actor (John Huston)
· Nominated, Best Score (Jerry Goldsmith)
· 1975 National Society of Film
Critics Awards:
· Winner, Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
· 1975 New York Film Critics Awards:
· Winner, Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
· Nominated, Best Picture (Robert Evans)
· Nominated, Best Screenplay (Robert Towne)
· 1975 Writers Guild of America
Awards:
· Winner, Best Original Screenplay, Drama (Robert Towne)
date of release · June 20, 1974
producer · Robert Evans
setting (time) · 1937
setting (place) · Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley
protagonist · Private investigator J.J. (Jake) Gittes
major conflict · Jake struggles to uncover who is behind a land- and
water-fraud conspiracy that has led to murder.
rising action · After a woman dupes Jake into discrediting an innocent
man who is later murdered, he slowly pieces together a complex web of
corruption that he discovers is masterminded by the wealthy Noah
Cross.
climax · Jake confronts Cross with his many crimes.
falling action · Noah Cross forces Jake to lead him to Evelyn, a meeting
that leaves Evelyn dead and Cross in possession of their daughter Katherine.
themes · The dishonesty of authority figures; the corruption
of the American Dream; the helplessness of common people in the
face of evil
motifs · Ignorance; misidentification; haunted pasts
symbols · Chinatown; Jake's bandage; the saltwater pond
foreshadowing · A farmer asks if Hollis Mulwray is being paid to steal
water. Though the accusation is misdirected, it foreshadows the
bogus draught the deputy engineer is masterminding and the land
fraud the scheme helps to support.When Jake talks about a woman
he once failed to protect in Chinatown, Evelyn asks if the woman was
killed. Though her question is never answered, the conversation
foreshadows Evelyn's fate and Jake's inability to prevent it. After
Jake confronts Evelyn about holding Katherine prisoner, Evelyn leans
her head against the steering wheel and accidentally sets off the
horn, foreshadowing the long, unbroken sound of the car horn that
signals Evelyn's death at the end of the movie.
