“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” Forty years ago that now-iconic line concluded the most acclaimed murder mystery film of the 1970s, catapulting the captivating Jack Nicholson to leading-man stardom and setting off a whirlwind of public interest in the Los Angeles water supply disputes that inspired the movie. Robert Towne's award-winning screenplay contains all the elements of classic film noir: morally ambiguous characters, a bewitching femme fatale, and a hardboiled detective caught in the center of a convoluted tale of intrigue and murder. But instead of your anti-hero walking among shadows in black and white, John Alonzo added a contemporary touch with his warm color cinematography, illuminating every golden light leak streaking across the film’s dark interiors. This Roman Polanski-directed gem is screening tonight, and you can mouth the film’s final one-liner along with every other cinephile in the theater.
Wed., March 26, 7:30 p.m., 2014
Aimee Murillo is calendar editor and frequently covers film and previously contributed to the OCW’s long-running fashion column, Trendzilla. Don’t ask her what her favorite movie is unless you want to hear her lengthy defense of Showgirls.