Chinatown was filmed in the 1970's but set in the 1930's in Los Angeles. JJ Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson, is a private investigator who gets entangled in a murder mystery with costar Faye Dunaway at the center.
I was focused intently on the color of the film throughout- it begins with a palette of primarily reds, blues, and yellows. As the mystery begins to unfold, the scenes move to interiors in sepia tones. This change in color brilliantly reflects the change in mood and allows the viewer to get a feeling for what's happening before they are even really told what is happening. The scene cuts to an outdoor scene of primarily green, and then folds back into a layered palette with an emphasis on the color purple. The film continues in this fashion, with the colors matching the mood perfectly.
I'm very interested in this use of color to match the mood- Color can have a profound effect on the viewer, as it registers in the subconscious part of our brain, allowing us to make connections and draw conclusions before we are even given any actual information.
The screenplay, done by Robert Towne, was awarded "Best Original Screenplay." The film moved gracefully from scene to scene, and the cinematography was very creative and very successful. I particularly noticed a few times when the movement was captured through reflection in a secondhand source- a mirror, the lens of a camera. I found this to be very interesting, giving the viewer a kind of second-hand viewing experience. Rather than viewing the scene directly, you see it reflected, making one ponder- what would you see differently if you were to see the scene directly? What do we miss when we only see a small sliver of motion? What does the mind do to fill in these gaps?
The neonoir film, layered in mystery and drama, is paced well and presents answers to the questions it poses gradually, keeping the viewer entangled in the story to the end.
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