Today, Los Angeles's Chinatown is a somewhat dull tourist attraction, increasingly targeted for new, expensive apartment developments. Apparently--80 years ago--it was known for being a seedy hotbed of Chinese gang activity of which the police could hardly make heads-or-tails. Had I known this, the final line ("Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown.") might have meant something to me but I was left scratching my head as the credits rolled.
I guess that's how I could summarize the film as a whole: Chinatown is a well acted and expertly constructed film that didn't mean much to me. I take some responsibility for that. Film noir, in general, is a genre I struggle with. It takes itself too seriously, scales up character drama while scaling down character development, and is chock full of overplayed tropes. And the film's big twist/reveal felt particularly uncomfortable if you know anything about Roman Polanski's personal history.
While the movie didn't land with me, I think there's plenty of individual things I enjoyed about it. I owe a great deal to Jack Nicolson for playing Jake Gittes with such inquisitive charm that I was able to maintain interest for as long as I did. I also loved the film's premise, an excellent fictional interpretation of William Mulholland and the California Water Wars. As a Santa Claritian, the film's use of the Van Der Lip Dam Disaster (pulled directly from the St. Francis Dam disaster, a tragic hometown claim to fame) was spot on. And I always love a movie that can show me "old Los Angeles".
Again, I suspect the film is designed to leave me feeling as unsatisfied as a vice cop in 1930's Chinatown. And for that, it succeeded, an expert example of the filmmaking craft. But a carefully constructed "meh" is still a "meh". 🤷🏼♂️