For those who've seen it: "Chinatown" is a great movie -- but why, why, why...

[brentspeak]

did Jake Gittes call Noah Cross and tell him to meet at the Mulwray mansion? Had he had not done that, Evelyn and her daughter would probably had successfully fled to Mexico, and Jake would still have Cross' glasses to use as evidence against Cross.

Jake was intelligent and crafty throughout the entire film -- until he lost his marbles with that phone call.

[petronius]

1. I always wondered that...

Perhaps he was thinking that he could get a bigger payoff from Cross? On the other hand, he could have intended a 'victory dance' to rub into Cross that his perversion and corruption had been found out...

[brentspeak]

2. It was interesting that Noah Cross finally pronounced Gittes' name correctly

when he said, "It's not worth it, Mr. Gittes. It's really not worth it." Definitely one of the most evil of evil characters in motion picture history.

[brentspeak]

3. self-kick

:kick:

[tigereye]

4. because noir typically doesn't have happy endings?

that is an amazing, gorgeous film. I had never seen it until a few weeks ago. :wow:

[Richardo]

6. It's the first movie I saw by myself - in the theater in 1974.

I could not follow the plot, but did not care in the least.

[tigereye]

9. you hadn't read any Chandler yet?

;)

:hi:

I can't believe I had never seen it! Jack was so young! And so was Polanski.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. Maybe he thought Cross would turn himself in at that point.

I love the conversation they have:

- "What can you buy that you can't already afford?"
- "The future, Mr. Gittes, the future."

[brentspeak]

7. Did you catch what Jake said to Escobar at the very end?

He mumbled something, and I couldn't hear what he said. It seemed that Gittes was accusing Escobar of being paid off by Cross, but I'm not sure.

[Lex]

8. He said, "as little as possible."

It ties in with the whole Chinatown thing--that when Jake & Escobar were cops in Chinatown, they did "as little as possible" because they (the cops on that beat) didn't know the language, didn't really know who the good guys were, who the bad guys were, or if they were truly helping someone or just making things worse. They could've been helping the bad guys thinking they were helping the good guys because of the language and culture barrier. Instead, they just did "as little as possible" trying not to make things worse.

By Escobar and the cops interfering with Cross & Mulwray without knowing the whole tale, they ended up killing the lady who in fact wasn't bad, she was good. They thought they were helping, but they were f*cking up.

So when Jake sees her brains spattered all over the car seat, he mutters to Escobar "as little as possible."


Brillant film--I just saw it for the first time last Sunday on DVD.

[brentspeak]

11. Thanks. That clarifies something that's confused me for a while.

[Lex]

14. I backed the DVD up and listened to it twice to catch it

and then tried to figure out why he muttered that to his ex cop partner.

[acmavm]

10. I always thought it was because he thought that he could intimidate

Cross by letting him know that his sins were surfacing and that if he didn't leave Evelyn and her daughter alone, that he'd publically humiliate him. Because Cross was a smug, arrogant, and overly proud old thug. But he underestimated Cross's cruely and need to manipulate. He never thought (in my opinion) that the old man would sacrifice his daughter's life to get control of the girl. He was wrong.

[brentspeak]

12. "You may think you know what you're dealing with..."

"...but believe me, you don't."

[acmavm]

13. YEP!