Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

As I was writing about 36 China Town a couple of posts ago, I recalled this movie which I had seen some time back. Starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway this was directed by Roman Polansky (whose other movie I loved was The Pianist). Considered by many to be one of the best screenplays ever written, I did enjoy watching this and would definitely rate it well…given the contempt I seem to have developed watching some overhyped classics made before the 80s.

Though technically it can be called a murder mystery, it doesn’t have the standard format of one. It’s a nice thriller with adequate twists and turns to keep you interested throughout. Also, the climax is quite unconventional for a movie like this. The performances by the lead pair are really good and so is the screenplay. This is definitely one of the very few movies from the past which I did enjoy watching and would recommend to everyone.

Tailpiece: I read that there was a trilogy planned intially with “Jake Gittes” (name of the character played by Nicholson in this movie) as the pivot. Nicholson made a sequel called the The Two Jakes which flopped badly and so they abandoned the idea of a third part altogether.