Monday, June 30, 2014

The Treacherous, Dark Corners of `Chinatown



I had an unexpected Twitter conversation with a friend recently, and it was so brisk that we could hardly keep up each other's tweets.  It was about Donald Sterling, the disgraced and deposed owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and his story reminded me of `Chinatown especially.


`Chinatown is one of those films that remind me (us):  Whenever we think we know it and whenever we think we understand, we actually don't.  There are dark corners, hidden nooks and crannies, and secret closets that tuck one skeleton after another.  This scene from the 1974 film, with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, is so powerful as to be shocking:  The mysterious girl Katherine is both her sister and her daughter.  There is more shock and tragedy to face for the guileless private investigator.  

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