A masterpiece of 1970s cinema and one of the quintessential modern noir thrillers arrives in a hefty and handsome DVD package with the release of director Roman Polanski's CHINATOWN.  This gritty, mature detective tale successfully captures the shadowy intrigue, tough guy talk and hard-edged idealism of the best noir classics from the 1930s and 40s.  Jack Nicholson's iconic and perhaps best-ever screen performance harkens back to Bogart at his height while infusing the character of Jake Gittes with the anti-hero sensibilities of the mid-1970s, fueled by screenwriter Robert Towne's complex and calculated script. CHINATOWN stands as one of the prototypical Los Angeles films, capturing detail of a stylish bygone era of glamorous veneer painted over the city's difficult and occasionally deadly origins.  Gittes' quest for the truth peels back these layers of fashionable illusion to expose the ugliness and scandal lurking in the lives of socialite Evelyn Mulray (Faye Dunaway) and her influential father Noah Cross (John Huston). Lethal consequences arise when corrupt overlords collide with the untouchable underworld as power supplants politics, and private eye Gittes stands in the crossfire while dredging up truths which permeate the very soil of the city's foundation. Solid acting across the board from lead and supporting roles, coupled with Polanski's masterful direction, Towne's crisply detailed script, Richard Sylbert's lavish art direction and Jerry Goldsmith's minimalist but effective score flow together fluidly.  CHINATOWN murder mystery twists as surprises as it rushes toward a climax that is shocking in its cruelty as it is inevitable amid the tale's undercurrent of tragic fate.

Faye Dunaway garnered a reputation as a difficult actress on the set, but her work as the damaged and turbulent Evelyn Mulray indelibly launched her stardom and counterbalanced Gittes' impetuous, smart-mouthed demeanor.  A walking symbol of Los Angeles' dichotomy through the story, Evelyn embodies the glamorous illusion of beauty which belies the danger and brutality lurking just under the surface.  The character careens between such emotional extremes of cold-blooded control to manic madness, Dunaway turns in a tour-de-force performance which stands far apart from the typical woman-in-distress role in the genre, earning an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. CHINATOWN boasts one of the best cast ensembles of any film, including the venerable John Huston as the political puppet master Noah Cross, plus fine character work by John Hillerman as a bureaucrat riding the tide of civic corruption, Burt Young as a cuckolded client of Gittes, Perry Lopez as Jake's police force foil, and James Hong as the Mulray's houseman.  The entire cast broadens the richness and scope of the plot's seductive mystery, as Jake Gittes becomes mired in the swamp of deceit hidden under the city's façade of lavish abundance, and quickly discovers life is a fragile, transplanted bloom contrasting the native desert environment in which death thrives so readily.

In addition to the newly remastered DVD transfer of the feature film, a rare and valuable collection of bonus features enhance this solid home entertainment release: three in-depth, detailed documentaries by Laurent Bouzereau spanning the creation, production and reputation of CHINATOWN. Better still, all three are based on stellar, recent interviews with director Roman Polanski, star Jack Nicholson, screenwriter Robert Towne, producer Robert Evans. The presence of such luminaries giving their first-hand accounts from making this classic film after nearly a quarter-century is highly uncommon and gives this DVD release even more prestige as a prized addition to the library of any cinephile.  Note: the Bonus Material documentaries below do not match those listed on the DVD back cover jacket [an odd discrepancy], but indeed accurately reflect the disc's actual special features.

CHINATOWN: THE BEGINNING AND THE END

From director Roman Polanski's opening comments, viewers learn that CHINATOWN is the classic which almost didn't get made — at least not in the form fans have embraced for 23 years. Following the death of Sharon Tate, Polanski admits grimly he didn't want to return to Los Angeles to direct the film, even at the urging of friends and collaborators like Nicholson, Evans and Towne.

Writer Robert Towne relates his personal inspirations for writing this quintessential LA story arising from a confluence of exterior events with his own realization how his perception of the city was quickly disappearing around him. His creative interest sparked, Towne's research into LA's history quickly established the dramatic landscape of a city created from, in effect, a crime: the "stealing" of water from the Owens Valley to buoy the expansion of Los Angeles. Paint the story's backdrop of this political and economic manipulation, marry it with an offhand but telling quote from a friend about vice squad duty in Chinatown, and Towne had the basis for his nostalgic lament of a noir thriller. In his own commentary, the writer says "then Chinatown, as a notion, begins to stand for the futility of good intentions."

The third parcel of this creative equation was actor Jack Nicholson, for whom Towne wrote the character and in fact collaborated with on the story's development. Nicholson and Towne imbued Jake Gittes with the actor's distinctive traits while also informing his character with the backlog of Nicholson's own history as an underappreciated, struggling performer. Gittes' unspoken dark history of disillusionment in Chinatown mirrors Nicholson's roughest years fighting to survive in Hollywood. The cynicism and anger demonstrated by Gittes on-screen is not a period costume worn by Nicholson, it's a tailor-made, custom fit skin worn naturally and boldly by the iconic star.

Producer Robert Evans enters the picture because screenwriter Towne refused to pen the script for THE GREAT GATSBY, instead insisting on writing what became CHINATOWN.  As a somewhat maverick studio head, Evans personally supported the film's production and gave director Polanski a rarely-enjoyed free hand making it, standing as head of production to ward off any studio interference.  As Polanski and Towne engaged in a contentious but production collaboration over paring down the complex script to its dramatic core, a difficult but creatively challenging film awaited cast and crew alike.

CHINATOWN: FILMING

Production of this period film bravely exploited a wide expanse of Southern California locations, rather than playing it safely but less successfully across studio backlots.  Polanski and the production team reveled in the tale's vintage styles while avoiding an overly stylized directorial technique.  The director and Nicholson reveal how they translated a first-person literary style by authors like Raymond Chandler into shooting the film close to Gittes' placement and perspective in each scene.

While a collaborative spirit thrived during CHINATOWN's production, on-set stories about personal clashes and arguments are legendary — and discussed in detail by those involved, including the infamous hair-plucking incident between Polanski and Dunaway, and a blow-up between the director and Nicholson over a televised Laker game.  As Nicholson reflects, "We had some good times and we had some good arguments.  We had some real good arguments, actually."  Yet such distractions were both volatile and temporary, as bonds of creative trust were maintained... at least enough for Nicholson to feel confident in Polanski sticking a gimmicked switchblade knife up the actor's nose.

While cameras rolled, Polanski and Towne grappled with their own differences on two key story points: whether or not Gittes and Evelyn should become lovers, and exactly how the two would end the film.  Both men share their recollections of these quandaries with surprising differences in memory, but both agree nearly a quarter-century later how their scripting of the Chinatown scene worked better as a final-hour rewrite than anyone anticipated.

CHINATOWN: THE LEGACY

Relating tales and personal reflections from CHINATOWN's 1974 well-received release in theaters, to its promising but surprisingly unfruitful results after 11 Academy Award nominations, and what the film has meant to the participants in the decades since, Polanski, Nicholson, Towne and Evans speak frankly and proudly about this bold and risky film.  Fans will treasure insights into the post-production, including the problems which lead to third-choice composer Jerry Goldsmith recording his brilliant score in only nine days.

While their collective gamble may not have paid off in a slew of Oscar trophies, the wave of critical praise never ebbed as audiences recognized CHINATOWN as a stand-out project even amid one of the most inventive and daring decades of American filmmaking. 

THEATRICAL TRAILER

Usually the inclusion of original theatrical trailers on DVD releases amount to little more than a disc-padding afterthought, but fans should do themselves a favor and watch CHINATOWN's trailer in all its vintage glory.  Definitely not remastered and updated, this trailer is a superb example of film marketing from the early 1970s, exemplifying the layered plot's slow and steady build up as Gittes wades deeper into the mystery.  It's a far and welcome cry from today's strobe-edited pyrotechnic flash cards which pass for theatrical trailers of many films, and a fun trip down memory lane for those who remember '70s cinema from the first time around.

CHINATOWN holds up incredibly well after 23 years, and its boldly complex story remains richly entertaining even after multiple viewings.  Its brilliant and thorough stylings of a vintage detective tale has perhaps one valid modern successor, 1997's L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, which was the last such mature, successful telling of a nostalgic Los Angeles mystery to brighten cinema screens and capture audience loyalty.  After the dismal failure of Brian DePalma's 2006 embarrassing misfire THE BLACK DAHLIA, film fans have suffered a painful drought of smart, sassy and stylish noir thriller ever since.  But take comfort, a bona fide classic returns to DVD in a handsome home entertainment package: forget your film woes, Jake, it's CHINATOWN.