"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."

Reviewing the film noir classic "Chinatown" on the occasion of the LA fires.

I’ve often thought that the most honest cinematic portrayals of Los Angeles are Sunset Boulevard and Chinatown—both directed by emigres from Europe (Wilder from Austria, Polanski from Poland) .

On the occasion of the LA fires, I rewatched Chinatown, which was inspired by the California water wars—a long conflict over water in southern California that ultimately resulted in Los Angeles securing water rights from the Owns Valley, thereby making the great expansion of the city possible.

I’d not watched the film in twenty years and was surprised by how well it has held up. It is a remarkably complex story with multiple layers of intrigue, mystery, and emotion. The villain, Noah Cross (played by John Huston) is marvelously creepy. The protagonist, Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) is a wonderful combination of tough and vulnerable.

After years of being served childish and irritating drivel from Hollywood, I was astonished by how well the film portrays what seem to be real adults entangled in real conflicts. At a key moment in the story, Noah Cross says something to Jake that we who strive to understand the reality of human affairs—as distinct from our cherished illusions about them—should always bear in mind.

See Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they are capable of anything.