Film noir often explores the extremes of the American character, highlighting its dark and insidious capabilities but also its capacity for decency and truth. Although many critics agree that noir's quintessential period occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown again invokes the tradition, functioning "as both homage and critique of classic noirs" (Graydon 41). Like Raymond Chandler before him, Polanski uses the rapidly expanding climate of Los Angeles to stage his vision of the definitive noir: employing the tradition of the justice-seeking detective who must navigate through the corrupt city and past the dishonest advances of the femme fatale, Polanski highlights the brutality of noir while providing a modern take on the classic genre. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Like so many noir films of the 1940s and 1950s set in Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco, Chinatown is set in L.A. in 1937. The city of Los Angeles itself was an integral component of the genre, especially due to works by Chandler, whose detective Phillip Marlowe can often be found hunting around the world. various parts of the city (Hausladen 49). Urban sprawl has even been described as a “labyrinth” by author Nicholas Christopher and as “a key to the psychological and aesthetic structure of film noir” (Hausladen 48). Polanski takes these concepts to the extreme in Chinatown as his protagonist Jake Gittes finds himself in both a psychological and physical labyrinth during his investigation into the death of Hollis Mulwray. After Mr. Mulwray's death, Gittes does some nocturnal sleuthing in the city's reservoirs, jumping a chain-link fence and searching the interior rooms for clues. Polanski's camera captures Gittes' face behind the fence several times during this scene, as the images suggest that the detective's vision and abilities are somewhat limited due to the vast, bare landscape. As Gittes walks through the empty reservoir, his character is often isolated in the frame along with the long open channels that appear to be a physical labyrinth: these channels only take him to further twists and turns, just before they suddenly fill with water to disconcerte Gittes. as he investigates the murder cases of the victims who, ironically, drowned in the middle of a desert drought. The city of Los Angeles was not only transformed into both a figurative and literal labyrinth by Polanski, but also “a city and culture marked by ambiguity, in search of its own identity” (Hausladen 49). The concept of uncertainty is significant for Chinatown, as both the detective and the audience often find themselves disoriented throughout the narrative. The history of Los Angeles, its lack of identity, and sense of a lingering "past" combine in the film to taint the characters (Cordaiy). 121) Sydney-based author Hunter Cordaiy explains that “this sense of 'past' is essential to all noir stories (one of the most famous examples is Out of the Past [Jacques Tourner, 1947])” (121). In Polanski's Chinatown, the past is an invisible but felt presence throughout the film: Gittes had an accident in the past in Los Angeles' Chinatown, and although Evelyn Mulwray asks whether a woman Gittes had once loved died there or less, the absolute truth is never revealed either to her or to the public; Evelyn herself has a horrific past that she cannot escape, having been raped by her father Noah Cross at 14 and giving birth to his son who she must now hide and protect; Evelyn's father, Noah Cross, and the murdered HollisMulwray were once co-owners of the Los Angeles water and electric supply, and their past ties and history are the driving forces behind Gittes' investigation. With all of Chinatown's central figures, "there is a sense that no character will ever 'escape' their own history or what" the city has done to them (Cordaiy 121). While Polanski invokes the lore of the Los Angeles setting and “sense of the past” to pay homage to noir classics, he does so primarily by revolving his story around a detective. Screenwriter Robert Towne, who collaborated with Polanski on the screenplay, even admitted that he began the writing process “with the prototype of Philip Marlowe…a tarnished knight” (Hausladen 57). But unlike Marlowe and the other detectives of the 1940s and 1950s who almost always seemed to be one step ahead of the bad guys while simultaneously in control of all peripheral situations, Gittes is unaware of many of his surroundings and connections between people and events. -"so, it's a sober characterization of the old Sam Spade-Philip Marlowe tradition" (Gehring 19). Although Gittes lives alone and was a former member of the police force like most noir detectives, his character's abilities to sense danger and fend off those violent threats appears to be significantly weaker than the typical noir detective. In a scene where Polanski makes his cameo, Gittes is captured by Polanski's character "The Man with the Knife" and another henchman. Unlike the classic detective who defeated the villain's henchmen or took a beating (but suffered no physical scars afterward), Polanski's "The Man with the Knife" gruesomely cuts a giant slit in Gittes' left nostril, leaving him vulnerable and bleeding profusely. Throughout the next half of the film, Gittes is forced to wear an oversized white bandage across his face, now becoming the butt of jokes instead of displaying the detectives' normal witty charm. Not only does Gittes appear physically weak while wearing the white eyepatch, but Polanski also strips the detective of his overall physically masculine and dominant attributes. Classic noir detectives dress in shabby clothes and live in small apartments which represent their independence from both society and the law (Cordaiy 120); they also tend to have little money and are forced to exploit clients or take on any type of case to secure capital. Gittes is described as exploiting his clients when he sells photos of alleged traitor Hollis Mulwray to local newspapers, yet "(he) is impeccably dressed and has a detective agency with a secretary and two agents" (Cordaiy 120). Instead of appearing tough and independent, Gittes appears elegant, refined and dependent on his colleagues as he tells Ida Sessions, (impersonator Evelyn Mulwray), that he is unable to hear her case in private or without the help of his two partners. .As Chinatown destroys the notion of the omniscient detective (Cordaiy 122), it also reimagines and reformulates the role of the femme fatale. Typical femme fatales appear to be figures of pure malevolence: they lie, cheat, and kill to reach the top in pursuit of a position of wealth and power. Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity is perhaps the classic example, but Polanski's femme fatale is hardly comparable to her in any respect. The actions of the classic femme fatale are often driven by a painful past or an unhealthy relationship with an abusive lover (Kathie Moffat's relationship with Whit Sterling in Out of the Past is a prime example); presumably, a distressing past is one of the few things Polanski's Evelyn Mulwray has in common with. 2009.