[…] Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: Scott continually encourages writers to read scripts as well as watch movies. The script for Chinatown is widely considered to be one of the best. It is frequently cited in books on screenwriting. And the film itself …read more […]

Great review on a great script and a great movie. IMO, here are a two other ways the script deviates from today’s accepted wisdom. First, the idea that you must know what the “stakes” are for the protagonist at a relatively early stage, and the stakes must be “primal” and we must “care.” I don’t know about others, but I for the life of me couldn’t tell what the “stakes” were for Gittes until after the mid-point (other than Gittes’ desire not to “be played” and set-up by the fake Mrs. Mulwray, and I sensed early on that this was a device and nothing more). I didn’t really “care” about Gittes either, except that he was interesting and the story was interesting. Second, John Huston is about as great a villain as you will find. Yet, we don’t really see him on screen until about page 45 of the script. He is revealed by other means. Highly effective and interesting. I too think the lunch scene on Catalina Island was one of the best in the movie. Fantastic writing and acting.

Love this movie. About this remark with extended dialogue from the script… When I saw “Game of Thrones” forth season finale, the scene with Peter Dinklage shooting his father – and I thought choice of Noah’s death would incline the story in different direction. Great point though “rape the future\rape the land”. ‘The land’ didn’t die after all. There’s this psychological phenomenon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome Maybe in the deepest domain of unconsciousness of Evelyn character it cannot be done (I mean effective killing father). This just might look like a good point: projection of Gittes’ own demons. After all, heroically he defies (ineffectively) those things of his own deep unconsciousness. Escobar character every time points to the futility of this journey. In the end he has quite a shock that someone is able to do such a thing twice (backstory + actual story).

[…] Classic 70s Movie: Chinatown […]