esrosedotblog

HIGH FIVE

Today's movie is CHINATOWN (1974). Here we have Roman Polansky directing, Robert Towne writing, and Robert Evans producing at the top of their careers. Nicholson and Dunaway are in full bloom with the old and wise and spare work of John Houston to keep them in line. It is a near perfect combination.

I have not seen this in a long time and was surprised to find that my memory was black and white. While muted, it is in color and Polansky uses the colors to work with the plot. Good stuff. A lot of sunlight beaming here and there. It is surely LA.

Somehow this all means a bit more to me as I now live where the 'water wars' still play a daily role in moral and political decisions. In the film, they are working to water the Valley and then annex it to LA. Here we are trying to develop a desert valley and extend the metroplex that these guys started in the era of the film. Resonance.

As indicated, I will give this a five out of Netflix5. It is an 8.4 at IMDb which is rather high for such a fussy bunch of cinemaphilic voters.