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Quote 3

Evelyn:   “She’s my daughter.”
[Gittes slaps Evelyn.]
Gittes:   “I said I want the truth!”
Evelyn:   “She’s my sister. . . .”
[slap]
Evelyn:   “She’s my daughter. . . .”
[slap]
Evelyn:   “My sister, my daughter.”
[More slaps.]
Gittes:   “I said I want the truth!”
Evelyn:   “She’s my sister AND my daughter!”

This exchange, which occurs after Jake confronts Evelyn with what he thinks is the truth, works on several levels. First, the unexpected violence of the scene comes as a shocking payoff for the tension in the film between Jake’s frustration and Evelyn’s secret. Second, it shows Jake’s willingness to use violence against women. In Jake we see a glimpse of the darkness Cross embraces, as well as a sincere remorse when Jake realizes how wrong his actions have been. Third, the dialogue shows the complicated nature of truth. In this scene Jake is convinced that Evelyn is lying to him, when in fact she has already told him the truth: Katherine is indeed Evelyn’s sister. The near desperation with which Jake pushes Evelyn to confess is an expression of his fears and anxieties about being completely lost amidst the lies that surround him. Jake’s anger at Evelyn’s response comes not just from her reticence, but from the way her answer transforms the exit he has created for himself into another turn in the investigation.

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