Chinatown

Outline for the Presentation

Chinatown

Introduction

n      Chinatown is a story that revolves around the drowning of the Los Angeles water commissioner, during a drought. The heavy behind this murderous move to control the city’s water is Noah Cross, who also is the father-in-law of the commissioner.

Characteristics that classified it as a Classic Film Noir

n      Protagonist- J.J “Jake” Gittes, a hard-boiled detective. A wisecracker, who alternates between cracking jokes and politeness. He is a former cop whose involvement in the Mulwray case echoes him back to Chinatown where he worked once as a police officer. Seem to be an impression of classical noir protagonist such as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon

n      Femme fatale- Evelyn Cross Molwary, the wife of Hollis Molwary, daughter of Noah Cross. She is not definitely the femme fatale like the heartless Phyllis Nirdlinger in Double Indemnity, a woman with both a secret and a deadly agenda. She had a secret but not a deadly agenda, is a twisted cross between a femme fatale and a doomed victim

n      Antagonist- Noah Cross, father of Evelyn and Katherine. A wealthy well-known man, Cross a sociopath believes that no law, either legal or moral applies to him. His crimes range from incest, to land fraud, to murder. All of which he commits without shame and remorse.

n      Visual styles

n      Low key lighting-Associated with a bleak light/dark contrasts and dramatic shadow patterning.

n      Shadows- The shadows effect of a Venetian blind or a banister rods cast upon, an actor, a wall or an entire set.

n      Camera angle- Here is one camera angle effect. The rearview mirror; is when a wide lens is used and pan in close to give the audience the aspect of what the P.I. is looking at

n       Detective film noir- Hard-boiled private eye, cigarettes effect, a protagonist that functions as a detective figure, a narrative that follows an investigation.

Characteristics that classified it as a Neo-Noir:

n      Thugs, gangster, hoodlums

n      Violence

n       Nudity, Interracial Sex, Incest

Conclusion:

 Chinatown- the dishonesty of authority figures; the corruption of the American Dream; the helplessness of common people in the face of evil. Famous quote, “                                Forget Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

Source One:

Noir as a Genre

Written by Sanil

Quote from the source: In addition, films noirs began to deal with taboo subjects; such as, nudity, homosexuality, interracial sexual activity, incest, rape, abortion, profanity, criminal acts and the use of drugs. American films in the 1920s and 1930s before film noirs barely ever covered these topics. However, due to censorship, many films in the late 1960s and 1970s have less explicitness of all the taboo topics. Therefore, distinguishing the films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s from the neo-films noirs of the 1970s and later.

Significance: I select this quote to explain how classic noir barley covered incest, rape, drugs and… And how the films made in the 70’s had more of an open and direct way. As you will notice in the movie Chinatown, the incest between father and daughter.  

           

Source Two:

Film Studies 205: Chinatown

  By Seo Young Park

Quote from the source: Women characters in film noir were being more ambitious than guy character and have strong personality; however there were some changes after neo-noir came. Evelyn is character who has both of femme fatal and week-hearted sides of her. Even though she had femme fatal character, it’s different from what early film noir have described women character. Because she didn’t attempt to seduce Gittes to achieve her own goal, this scene shows Evelyn’s internal mind statement, herself as a victim, also how strongly or calmly she was dealing with all the problems. Unlike most of other film noir, she ended up as a victim without being any harm to anyone in the movie.

Significance: This quote relates to how Evelyn Molwary was more of a victim in Chinatown and that she brought no harm to anyone. She was not your typical femme fatale as you will see in a classic noir film.

Palmer, R. Barton. "Chinatown and the Detective Story." Literature Film Quarterly 5.2 (1977): 112. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

In this article the author compares Chinatown with the movie “Rosemary Baby” and the play “Sophocles Oedipus the King.”  In the movie Rosemary Baby, the author will state that both Rosemary and Evelyn were raped and both tried to protect their child from evil. In the play Sophocles, he mentions that both Chinatown and Sophocles have protagonist that are trying to seek the truth. This article it had no mention on the noir elements. 

  

Johnson, Brian D. "'Chinatown' comes back to haunt him." Maclean's 122.40 (2009): 117. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

The article is about how the author compares Polanski real life with the movie “Chinatown”. He talks about how in the movie there are certain scenes that relates to Polanski life. He points out how the plot involves the sexual abuse of a teenage girl and a corrupt L.A justice system which hits real close to home. Johnson will quote some scenes to show that what was said also hits home with Polanski. Like the scene where Jake finally confronts Noah Cross about Evelyn and her daughter/sister. And Cross saying “See, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they’re capable of anything.” With this quote the author saying that Cross showed no remorse, just like Polanski.  

  McGinnis, Wayne D. "Chinatown: Roman Polanski's Contemporary Oedipus Story." Literature Film Quarterly 3.3 (1975): 249. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

This article talks about Paul D Zimmerman a writer from Newsweek. Hoe Zimmerman states in the article “Blood and Water,” “Chinatown makes a moral statement of significance about recent U.S. politics and the potential for evil in all human aspiration” (74). In the article, McGinnis will also compare Chinatown with Sophocles, but more so the character Jake Gittes and Oedipus. How both tried to figure out the source of the corruption.  

Cordaiy, Hunter. "Through a lens, darkly: teaching CHINATOWN." Screen Education 54 (2009): 119-124. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

The article attempts to analyze “Chinatown,” by describing it as a reconstruction of a noir story, or homage to the tradition of noir cinema. It sticks to the historical rules of the genre, deceiving and seducing. The article will go into more details about the concept of the movie in the noir elements. The detective and story structure, the irresistible femme fatale, dark places and fault lines. How the detective or private eye, is one of the most recognisable characters in noir storytelling.

Novak, Phillip. "The Chinatown Syndrome. (Cover story)." Criticism 49.3 (2007): 255-283. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011

The article presents a criticism on “Chinatown,” it will focus on the characters of Jake Gittes and Evelyn Mulwray. The disagreement on whether Jake’s problem is naïveté or worldliness. If Evelyn simply reprises the role of the femme fatale. What the connection between Evelyn and Chinatown have with each. It criticizes how the ending does not conclude with the triumph of the heroic detective, but end with a sense of confusion.

Chinatown

Although Chinatown is considered to be a noir film, it does break some rules of film noir-like not being in black and white but in color. It is a great murder/mystery that contains some elements of a film noir genre - the protagonist, a detective or investigator who usually portrayed as a greedy loner; a beautiful sensual femme fatale who will use her charm to seduce the protagonist, a plot that usually deals with the dark aspects of humanity-greed, murder, deceit and paranoia, low key lighting, and shadows. Chinatown is a movie about a hot temper PI seeking the truth and a nervous sexy femme fatale with an unusually background. It will tell one plot but suddenly splits into two double-plot; that of the water plot and the incest plot. Although seemingly different at first glance, both plots are in truth related to each other, deceit, murder and greed. The movie will have shadows and some dark and light contrasts. The low key lighting tends to keep some of the scenes dark and gloomy especially in the night scenes. The daytime scenes had a brown and washed out-yellows tint to look like a golden tone this was so that is wouldn’t look so bright from the sun. Although Chinatown may not have the voice over narrator, the story is told through a former LAPD now P.I. named Jake Gittes. Who will investigate a famous cheating husband. Meets the femme fatale Evelyn Mulwray, but she is not your typical femme fatale; she is insecure, nervous, and she holds a secret and turns out to be the lone character with pure motive. Chinatown is a movie that you would want to see again and again. You will be shocked and surprised.

Work Citied

Cordaiy, Hunter. "Through a lens, darkly: teaching CHINATOWN." Screen Education 54 (2009): 119-124. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Johnson, Brian D. "'Chinatown' comes back to haunt him." Maclean's 122.40 (2009): 117. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

McGinnis, Wayne D. "Chinatown: Roman Polanski's Contemporary Oedipus Story." Literature Film Quarterly 3.3 (1975): 249. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Novak, Phillip. "The Chinatown Syndrome. (Cover story)." Criticism 49.3 (2007): 255-283. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011

Palmer, R. Barton. "Chinatown and the Detective Story." Literature Film Quarterly 5.2 (1977): 112. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Blog #10 "The Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones" and "Kinship"

In blog #10 we were to select two stories that will describe the elements of a classic noir and a neo-noir. The story “The Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones” to me follows the classic noir element; it has its femme fatale, Cherie a washed-up actress who killed a man and also has its male protagonist Tate who will do anything for her for sex. She gives him the sex, but in return he must help her get rid of the body. Before he can get the why, he finds himself facing the barrel of a gun. He drives off to a supermarket call 911. He now notice that there a set of headlights coming at him and see her behind the wheel. All he can think of is how beautiful she looks.

I fell that “Kinship” has the element of a neo-noir; it has its male protagonist Tomas, an ex-gang member, who at times will have flashback growing up in the neighborhood. He will be influence not by a femme fatale but by evil using revenge to hurt someone for someone else. You see Tomas cousin Veronica has a son name Emerson, he has a disability condition. He is constantly being bullied and beat-up by a kid at school. Manny Emerson father had confronted the bully’s father but gets beat up himself. So Tomas’s anger takes control by getting revenge on the bully’s father.

Blog #9 "Memories"

Growing up in the Los Angeles area, I felt that both writers did a great job in describing the locations. “The Kidnapper Bell,” took place in L.A. near the L.A. River and “City of Commerce” took place in Commerce. As I was reading both stories, it had brought back memories as a little girl. I remember seeing the cat’s faces in the L.A. River, also the graffiti along the cement walls as we drove to L.A. I also remember seeing the Southern Pacific Yard Station when we would cross the Broadway Bridge to go to Pasadena. I recall see all the trains coming and going. I also remember pass thru the City of Commerce, the truck stop, the outlet malls, the Crowne Plaza Hotel/ casino on our way to visit relatives in Norwalk. I recall one time we had to stop at the hotel just for a second on our way home, to use the restroom. You could see the casino, and it did look like Vegas to me. Again both writers description of the location was right on.

                     

 

                                                           

Blog #8, "Hollywoodlandia"

I choose option 3, out of the two stories; I enjoyed “Morocco Junction 90210”and would recommend the story to my female friends. I don’t think that the male gender would enjoy reading it, not as much as the other story “The Method.” Why did I chose Morocco Junction over The Method, I found that The Method was a little to much for me, especially the language, and how there was too much detail regarding the sex. Where Morocco Junction 90210, was a little of my style to read, the language was not as bad, and there was no sex detail. I am not totally saying that The Method was not a bad story to read and not to recommend it, it wasn’t. I did enjoy reading it; I like the twist on how Holly found out that her Richard was the same Richard that Mariah (an old actress who Holly befriended) had an affair with and got a restraining order on him. Again it was just not my type of story.  Not like Morocco Junction 90210, it was a story about Eloise an elderly woman living in Beverly Hill, takes her life to save her family from being humiliated when and if they found out that she had an illegitimate son. How she had sold her jewelry to give her illegitimate son a good upbringing. This to me was sad, in how the people in Beverly Hill would discriminated someone and their family just because they did not fit into the BH life style.     

Leimert Park vs. San Marino

 I choose to write about option two. Reading the two stories, I found that the difference there is between the two would be the ethnic and language. “Dangerous Days” takes place in Leimert Park; you could say it is a Black/Mexican community where the violence there is high. The housing is low income housing. There will be payback shooting, such like Blacks killing Chicano and Chicano killing Blacks. You will have the gangster and drug dealers taking over the community. People tend to know nothing when a shooting accords. And there is the language; it is more of a slang style language, such like Spanglish, and Ebonics. “Midnight in Silcone Alley”, takes place in San Marino, an upscale housing and businesses community. People there will have a higher standard living. Its community is made up of Asian culture. They have their share of violence but not as bad as. The language is not as harsh as the language in “Dangerous Day.” Comparing the difference with ethnic and language you would have to say that San Marino is a place where people would like to live to bring up a family, more so then living in Leimert Park.