Polanski's Chinatown
07-29-03, 10:29 PM
#1
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,134
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Polanski's Chinatown
We got to watch the film Chinatown in my Sociology in Film class today, and I gotta say I really enjoyed it. I had never seen it before (it was actually the first Polanski film I've ever seen), and it was something different. I felt that the pacing was very slow, but not a boring slow. Earlier I watched Frantic b/c I've got to write a short analysis of that as well. Anyone have any other ideas of Polanski films that I could watch? I enjoyed both of these, and I am just sorry it took me so long to get around to it. Thanks in advance.
BTW, how is the sequel to Chinatown ? Is it worth the trouble of seeing?
BTW, how is the sequel to Chinatown ? Is it worth the trouble of seeing?
07-29-03, 11:48 PM
#6
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Right Behind You
Posts: 4,986
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by theneobez
I loved Chinatown as well. How is The Tenant?
I loved Chinatown as well. How is The Tenant?
07-30-03, 02:28 PM
#12
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Rhode Island, USA
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'd add Polanski's MacBeth. IMO it's one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever made. A lot of people harp on the sex and violence of the film, but I think it really suits the material and don't find it gratuitous at all. The Columbia Tri-Star DVD is a must have for any Polanski fan.
07-30-03, 03:27 PM
#13
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
third audrey's list.
----
The Two Jakes, the sequel to Chinatown, is nowhere near as perfect as Chinatown. But since my favorite actor, Jack Nicholson, directed it...I say go for it and watch it. The film is just okay and was a real let down to a lot of critics and movie goers but nine times out of ten, a sequel is never going to be as good as the first. And sequels always get criticized because of the first film.
I also read in Nicholson's biography that The Two Jakes was supposed to be made only a couple of years after Chinatown not the 16 years it took to get to the screen. It never really said why, just arguments about the direction the script was going.
----
The Two Jakes, the sequel to Chinatown, is nowhere near as perfect as Chinatown. But since my favorite actor, Jack Nicholson, directed it...I say go for it and watch it. The film is just okay and was a real let down to a lot of critics and movie goers but nine times out of ten, a sequel is never going to be as good as the first. And sequels always get criticized because of the first film.
I also read in Nicholson's biography that The Two Jakes was supposed to be made only a couple of years after Chinatown not the 16 years it took to get to the screen. It never really said why, just arguments about the direction the script was going.
07-30-03, 06:09 PM
#14
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: "Sitting on a beach, earning 20%"
Posts: 6,154
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Two Jakes was supposed to be follow Chinatown much sooner. It had a different director attached (maybe Robert Towne) and Robert Evens (the Producer!!?) was supposed to play the other Jake. Evens droped out as producer and star due to personal problems and the film went into limbo until Nicholson reserected it many years later.
BTW, Polanski is a rapist so we shouldn't watch any of his films and anyone who does is an advocate of child molestation
BTW, Polanski is a rapist so we shouldn't watch any of his films and anyone who does is an advocate of child molestation
07-31-03, 11:12 AM
#18
Banned
Originally posted by Pants
BTW, Polanski is a rapist so we shouldn't watch any of his films and anyone who does is an advocate of child molestation
BTW, Polanski is a rapist so we shouldn't watch any of his films and anyone who does is an advocate of child molestation
05-09-12, 04:41 PM
#21
Banned
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Conducting miss-aisle drills and listening to their rock n roll
Posts: 20,052
Received 168 Likes
on
126 Posts
Re: Polanski's Chinatown
Time for the BIG BUMP...this was the only Chinatown thread I could find in the movie forum.
Anyway, I watched Chinatown on blu ray last weekend, probably my 10th time seeing the film. Great supplements. I really love the film but two things struck me watching the film this time:
1. I really don't like the scene in the orange groves when Jake is investigating and he gets chased by the farmers who think he's a scheming real estate guy. The farmers seem unrealistically hostile, they just go off guns blazing without any real provocation, then Jake runs and continues to run even when he's cornered (why doesn't he throw up his hands and say "I'm here to help you!"?), then when he gets out of his car and they've got him and they're all holding guns on him he is belligerent and proceeds to punch a guy in the face. The rest of the film has a lot of verisimilitude; the characters and plot happen in believable ways, this scene goes off the rails. It doesn't seem realistic, the action of the farmers and Jake seems unmotivated.
Most interesting is that the supplements reveal that these orange grove scenes were the first thing shot for the film. I'd guess that Polanski (and everyone else) probably hadn't quite found the right tone yet for the film.
2. I learned this interesting bit of info on iMDB:
This confirms that the orange grove scene was the first thing filmed, but I think Cortez really did an amazing job. Despite the fact that I don't like it, the orange grove scene is one of the film's most famous scenes and is usually used whenever a clip of Chinatown is needed in a documentary or during an awards show, and I personally always really like the magic hour driving scene that follows. It's really beautiful.
I like Alonzo's work on the rest of the film, but I can't help but wonder if the film would have been even better keeping Cortez.
Anyway, I watched Chinatown on blu ray last weekend, probably my 10th time seeing the film. Great supplements. I really love the film but two things struck me watching the film this time:
1. I really don't like the scene in the orange groves when Jake is investigating and he gets chased by the farmers who think he's a scheming real estate guy. The farmers seem unrealistically hostile, they just go off guns blazing without any real provocation, then Jake runs and continues to run even when he's cornered (why doesn't he throw up his hands and say "I'm here to help you!"?), then when he gets out of his car and they've got him and they're all holding guns on him he is belligerent and proceeds to punch a guy in the face. The rest of the film has a lot of verisimilitude; the characters and plot happen in believable ways, this scene goes off the rails. It doesn't seem realistic, the action of the farmers and Jake seems unmotivated.
Most interesting is that the supplements reveal that these orange grove scenes were the first thing shot for the film. I'd guess that Polanski (and everyone else) probably hadn't quite found the right tone yet for the film.
2. I learned this interesting bit of info on iMDB:
Cinematographer Stanley Cortez was fired soon after production began because his classical style did not match the naturalistic style Polanski wanted for the film and proved too time consuming. Polanski had to find a replacement in only a few days and chose John A. Alonzo. As David Fincher and Robert Towne describe on their DVD commentary, two scenes shot by Cortez are in the film. The orange grove fight with the farmers (but not the following porch scene with Evelyn) and the drive back to Los Angeles at sunset are Cortez's work.
I like Alonzo's work on the rest of the film, but I can't help but wonder if the film would have been even better keeping Cortez.
Last edited by Mabuse; 05-09-12 at 06:06 PM.
05-09-12, 09:50 PM
#22
Moderator
Re: Polanski's Chinatown
I happened to watch Chinatown the other day and I have to admit, I had similar thoughts about that scene for the first time.
