Synopsis
One of the great American films, made in a decade—the 1970s—that likely produced more great American films than any other, Chinatown turns 50 this year. The sunlit neo-noir was created by a confluence of superstar talents: the writer Robert Towne, the director Roman Polanski, the producer Robert Evans, and stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and Hollywood legend John Huston, not to mention such essential crew as cinematographer John Alonzo and production designer Richard Sylbert. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, but claimed only one: for Towne’s original screenplay. No matter, the film abides as a classic twisted mystery, one rooted in the murky undertow of Los Angeles civic history. Nicholson’s gumshoe J.J. Gittes (aka “Jake”) gets in deeper water than he knows when he takes on a seemingly simple case of exposing marital infidelity. In the end, he’s caught up in something much, much bigger and much, much darker: a web of murder, lies, conspiracy and the most forbidden family secrets.
This special 50th anniversary screening will feature a pre-show conversation between filmmaker Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) and Rolling Stone film critic David Fear. The evening is presented by the Florida Keys and Key West Film Commission.