10 Lesser Known Film Noirs You Need To See
5. The Two Jakes (1990)
This 1990 sequel is not as well-respected or as good as Roman Polanski's original 1974 film, Chinatown. However, it is still an interesting window into modern-day perceptions of a bygone age.
J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is prospering after the Second World War: his private investigation business is thriving (he now only infrequently takes divorce cases), he belongs to an elite golf club, and he is engaged to be married. However, when his client, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) kills his wife's lover, who also happens to be Berman's business partner, Gittes's comfortable life is thrown into doubt. Gittes must prove that he was not an accomplice to Berman, whilst also investigating the ownership of mineral rights underneath Berman's land, which leads him to Katherine Mulwray, daughter of Gittes's murdered lover, Evelyn Mulwray.
From the above description, you might be excused for thinking that the plot is complex. The film was notoriously troubled, having been delayed owing to disagreements between screenwriter and original director, Robert Towne and producer, Robert Evans, who had initially been cast as Jake Berman. Eventually, Jack Nicholson stepped forward to rewrite Towne's script and direct the project. It was poorly received at the time, but bears watching for its high production values, including cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigland's sultry depiction of late 1940s Los Angeles.
A third film in the Chinatown universe, which was to have been set in 1968, dealing with air and privacy, as well as Gittes's own divorce, was sadly scrapped following this film's commercial failure.