"It's just Chinatown, Jake." The opaque shrug that ends this 1970s classic embodies the film's world-weary depiction of people who are never what they seem and dark motives that dwell deep below the surface. Like the water that drives the plot, secrets in Chinatown have a way of bubbling up in the most unexpected places, as detective Jake Gittes (Nicholson) discovers when he takes on Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) as a client. Not so much a recreation of the classic-era Chandler and Hammett private-eye stories as an outright celebration of the depravity they only hinted at. A stunning achievement for both Polansky and Towne. Followed by Nicholson's direction of The Two Jakes in 1990.
Synopsis: Hollis Mulwray is a chief engineer of the water department. Ida Sessions, pretending to be his wife Evelyn, asks P.I. JJ Jake Gittes to investigate his adulterous ways. Jake takes photos of Hollis with a young lady. Hollis then turns up murdered, which Jake decides to investigate. Jake finds more than he was looking for. He discovers a plot to buy cheap, unwatered land for low prices, water the land, and sell it for millions of dollars. The plot is masterminded by one Noah Cross, who is Evelyn's father and Hollis' one-time business partner. His investigation leads him to an affair with Evelyn and a discussion with Noah Cross, both of whom seem curiously interested in the girl Hollis was seen with.