Chinatown

Private detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a bit of a show-off, but also a conscientious peeper. He can solve small mysteries but has no idea what he’s getting into when he starts working on Evelyn Mulwray’s (Faye Dunaway) case and meets her father Noah Cross (John Huston). Together with the protagonist we descend into the Californian hell of the 1930s – it might look stylish but it hides frightening secrets. The most important neo-noir film of the 1970s, which confirmed the return to the noir genre in New Hollywood, turns fifty this year. Chinatown is one of the most crucial American movies. Combining a classic setting with modern cinema, it is an homage to the past, but it also debunks the myths that surround it. Masterfully directed by Polański, written by Robert Towne, this thriller is a template when it comes to dramatic structure and a fatalistic tale about evil that can find us anywhere.

Sebastian Smoliński

Roman Polański (b. 1933) is a Polish director who has made most of his films in France, Great Britain and USA. In his native Poland he made only a few short films and his feature debut Knife in the Water (1962), but he returned to Polish and Polish-Jewish themes in The Pianist (2002), for which he won an Oscar as best director and the Palme d’Or. His other films include Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Tenant (1976).

4K restoration.