Jake Gittes: A Brief Analysis Of The Film Chinatown

Analysis of Chinatown
Upon viewing the film Chinatown a discovery can be made within a sequence of events that can be traced back to the beginning scene of the movie. This particular film is a movie of the private eye genre. Such films are made to where they convey the viewpoint of the detective and place the viewer in the mindset of the detective as the mystery unfolds beforehand. The evidence is clear throughout the film but you are only able to piece it together once the film has ceased. The discovery made is that the evidence presented to Jake Gittes is not particularly as it seems and is not easily understood as goes for multiple things during the course of the film.
In most private eye movies the facts are presented but in a matter in which it isn’t fully understood and is portrayed in a rather complex form. The film is portrayed through the viewpoint of one J.J. Gittes, who is the main character, a private investigator who is good at his occupation. Gittes is a no non-sense man; he accepts the facts for what they are

and often bases assumptions or theories of off hard evidence. The film follows the actions and investigative work of Gittes; so the only knowledge the audience receives is the knowledge that Gittes has obtained. Everything become clearer in retrospect as the movie proceeds and the audience is never separated from the side of Gittes. Once the film is at an end is the audience is able to recollect the events, occurrences, actions, and locations that seemed to be aspartic and irrelevant actually was crucial to the plot. All the evidence is presented throughout the film it is just presented in a manner that is not easily deciphered.
The opening scene is what set precedent to the entire film. In the opening scene a tone was set in which the viewers are informed that Jake Gittes is a private investigator that performs his job exceedingly well. The scene is a client filtering through a collection of photos Gittes obtained of the clients wife having an affair with another man. The evidence is presented and the client has obtained the proof that his wife is infidel; whichever way it is pieced together the outcome is still the same.
The significance of this is that at the very beginning the scene is fully focused on the evidence at hand and not the overall scheme of things. The audience is given a false sense of understanding; for they do not have knowledge of events prior to the photos just what is presented. The camera then pans away from the photos towards a view of Gittes and the client that goes by the name of Curly. The audience from the beginning is misled to believe something that the saw was happening and was not quite as it appeared. The director Polanski used this to convey a theme of misleading evidence. Which occurs throughout the film, the audience as well as Gittes are misled by the facts they collect and only until it is too late do they begin to piece it together.
Photographs also play a major role throughout the film and are a recurring subject.

The fact that what the audience sees in these photos are to be given face value of undeniable evidence allows for the audience to believe the old adage of “seeing is believing”. In the beginning when Gittes successfully documented Curly’s wife in the act of sex, the audience is led to believe that photos are concrete evidence, which isn’t always the case. For instance when Gittes spots Mr. Mulwray with a young lady in the park it may seem clear that he is being unfaithful to his wife when he is actually spending time with his daughter. The photos throughout the movie mislead the audience. Another instance is when an associate of Gittes, Walsh, manages to capture photographs of Mr. Hollis Mulwray arguing in the street with an elderly male. These photos are an example of irony for the fact that they do not necessarily present the truths but abstruse the

facts.
Not only are the photos important throughout the movie but the importance of Curly as well. Curly is detrimental to the film because in the opening scene once Gittes has fulfilled his duties as a private investigator Curly does not possess the financial means to pay for Gittes services and Gittes allows Curly to not pay for the services. This is crucial because Curly feels indebted to Gittes and owes him for showing him the truth. Gittes is the able to cash in his favor when he is arrested and needs to escort Katelynn and Evelyn to Mexico which allows the plot to proceed to its climax in Chinatown.
There is also a symbolic importance that Curly brings forth to the plot and that is the symbol albacore. Albacore is a fish which happens to relate to Curly’s occupation hence him mentioning it upon leaving Gittes office; but the albacore is not just mentioned there is goes on to be mentioned several more times throughout the film. Curly explains to Gittes that he’d like to repay him but that he doesn’t get as much money for skipjack fish then as he does when he gets albacore. At the moment in the movie when this first comes up it seems to carry very little importance until it is later revealed that Evelyn’s father is a member of the Albacore Club. The opening sequence carries many occurrences that tie in later throughout the film.