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CHINATOWN

CHINATOWN. Considering Alternative Viewpoints. WHAT IS FILM NOIR?. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.

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CHINATOWN

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  1. CHINATOWN Considering Alternative Viewpoints

  2. WHAT IS FILM NOIR? Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s

  3. WHAT IS FILM NOIR? Film noir: - is often described as essentially pessimistic. • shows people trapped in unwanted situations, striving against random, uncaring fate, and frequently doomed. • depicts a world that is inherently corrupt. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir#Plots.2C_characters.2C_and_settings)

  4. FILM NOIR Film noir has been described as “oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel” (*oneiric – having a dreamlike quality)

  5. WHAT IS FILM NOIR?

  6. WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF FILM NOIR? • Black and white cinematography • Dark moody lighting • Shadows • Violent and corrupt cities • Smoking

  7. FILM NOIR CHARACTERS The detective The private investigator Corrupt police or public officials Femme fatale The fall guy

  8. NEO-NOIR In the 1960s and 1970s “films began to appear that self-consciously acknowledged the conventions of classic film noir as historical archetypes to be revived, rejected, or reimagined. These efforts typify what came to be known as neo-noir.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir#Plots.2C_characters.2C_and_settings)

  9. FEATURES OF NEO-NOIR • Colour cinematography • Updated themes, characters and style • Sometimes used as allegory for modern times • Unconventional camera movements and plot progression • Identity crises • Unsympathetic antiheroes

  10. CHINATOWN Roman Polanski's 1974 neo-noir Chinatown is a moody, atmospheric masterpiece of despair. More than just a top-notch detective story, its Byzantine plot twists and gorgeous art direction and cinematography create a world where honest men are no match for those who wield real power, a Los Angeles where the sun shines all the time but cannot chase away the darkness. (Source: http://www.phenry.org/movies/movienight/chinatown.php)

  11. CHINATOWN - PLOT JJ 'Jake' Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city's water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city's water supply. (Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/plotsummary)

  12. CHINATOWN TRAILER

  13. CHINATOWN - CHARACTERS Jake ‘JJ’ Gittes (Jack Nicholson)

  14. CHINATOWN - CHARACTERS Evelyn Cross Mulwray (Faye Dunaway)

  15. CHINATOWN - CHARACTERS Noah Cross (John Huston)

  16. CHINATOWN - CHARACTERS Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling) Lieutenant Lou Escobar (Perry Lopez) Ida Sessions (Diane Ladd) Katherine Cross (Belinda Palmer)

  17. CHINATOWN - CONTEXT Chinatown was directed by Roman Polanski. It was released in 1974 and went on to be nominated for 11 Oscars. Chinatown is set in Los Angeles, 1937. Despite its name, few scenes take place in Chinatown. The title is a metaphor.

  18. CHINATOWN - CONTEXT SETTING – LOS ANGELES 1937 Post Great Depression, pre WW2 Development and continued industrialisation of California, particularly LA

  19. CHINATOWN - CONTEXT • Chinatown was produced in 1974, the time of: • The OPEC cartel oil embargo (1973) • Watergate scandal • Vietnam war

  20. CHINATOWN - CONTEXT “Chinatownfound audiences by dramatizing the disparity between a view of the country and what many Americans realize was the awful realities of Vietnam, Watergate, and perceptions of racial inequality. Murder, violence, and Machiavellian manipulation were unnervingly reflected in American involvement in Vietnam and the political crimes of Watergate.” (Source: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/128311_analysis-of-chinatown)

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