Chinatown review
Best Picture and Best Sound. An Oscar went to Robert Towne for Best Writing-Original
Screenplay. It also has won three BAFTA Film Awards for Best Actor, Best Director and Best
Screenplay, Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture, four Golden Globes and many
more.2
Chinatown is a layered film, which takes place in Los Angeles in the 1930s. It narrates a story
of a private detective J.J.Gittes, who investigates the murder of head of the city's water and
power board Mulwray with help from his wife Evelyn Mulwray. From the beggining, the
movie develops an interesting and enthralling plot, which is enriched with sarcastic humour
and complex human relations. The plot is very unpredictable so when the final result appears,
it is very unexpected and well-hidden.3 Each incident pulls the audience deeper into the story
and makes them to think and wonder but when the conclusion reveals, everything is logical
and simple. This shows the wonderful work of the director