“Chinatown” A film noir in which a filmmaker who has seen Inferno on earth confronts his own trauma *Note! Contains spoilers.

A dark noir written after accepting a $175,000 offer.

"Chinatown" is an original screenplay by Robert Towne. In 1969, he was struggling with the script for " The Last Detail " (73). At that time, he saw an article in the Los Angeles Times titled "Raymond Chandler's LA". There were photos of Los Angeles in the 1930s. A Plymouth convertible standing under an old street lamp, a Packard in a house in Pasadena, an old train station in downtown. He was keenly aware of how much of the good old LA scenery had been lost in the past few decades.

"I started to realize and think about how much of this city has been lost in the last 30 to 35 years. (Omitted) I was stuck on ' The Last Detail' so I asked Jack (Nicholson) 'What if I wrote a detective novel set in Los Angeles in the 1930s?' He said, 'That would be great.' I wanted to recreate this city." ( Quoted from an interview with Robert Towne )

Robert Towne immediately began reading Raymond Chandler and thoroughly studied the ``type'' of hard-boiled novels. The book ``Southern California Country: Island on the Land,'' which describes the history of Southern California from the 1920s to the 1940s, was also very helpful. The tyranny of government, written in the chapter ``Water, water, water,'' gave me a hint.

"Chinatown " (C) 1974 by Long Road Productions. All Rights Reserved.TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2012 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

"I thought why not make a movie about a crime that's right in front of everyone's eyes? `` The Maltese Falcon '') uses a familiar object like a water faucet as its subject matter, and a conspiracy ensues from there. And as I read about their acts of throwing away water, starving farmers, and seizing their land, I realized that there was so much potential for visuals and drama. That was the beginning of this movie.'' ( Quoted from an interview with Robert Towne )

In fact, Robert Towne was commissioned by producer Robert Evans to write the screenplay for `` The Great Gatsby '' for an exceptionally low price of $175,000. However, he declined the offer and was paid $25,000 to write the screenplay for ``Chinatown.'' It took nine months to complete the first draft. Robert Evans appointed Roman Polanski to direct the film.

Shadow of a murdered wife and mother