I’m heading to the movies to beat the dark days after all
the holiday fun, and to wait for the longer days of spring. Our theme for this year’s
winter movies is “water wars”, the perfect ending to a year spent researching
and thinking about drought here in the San Francisco Bay Area. In each of these movies, the back drop to the drama is water as a scarce commodity. I hope you'll grab a bowl of pop corn and join me!
Chinatown
The first movie is “Chinatown,” which was released in 1974,
and won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (written by Robert Towne). The
movie was shot on location in and around Los Angeles. I first saw the movie
while attending college in Southern California.
Chinatown
The first movie is “Chinatown,” which was released in 1974,
and won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (written by Robert Towne). The
movie was shot on location in and around Los Angeles. I first saw the movie
while attending college in Southern California.
The story opens with J.J. Gittes reporting the unhappy results
of a matrimonial investigation to his client. The place is 1937 Los Angeles,
and Gittes is a small time private investigator, who was once a police officer in
Chinatown. A Mrs. Mulwray hires Gittes to find her husband, Hollis Mulwray, who
is the Water Commissioner of Los Angeles. In an unexpected twist, the real Mrs.
Mulwray also hires Gittes to investigate her husband, whom she suspects of having an affair. Hollis Mulwray turns up dead (drowned in salt water, yet
found in a reservoir), so Gittes services are no longer needed. But Gittes won’t
quit, and ends up investigating a bigger mystery, involving the Owens Valley
water scandal, a water bond, water dumping, orange groves, L.A. city
corruption, and a land grab in the Central Valley. “Chinatown” becomes a euphemism
on many levels for “things are not always as they seem”.
I love how the movie captures the look and feel of 1937 Los
Angeles – the architecture (let's bring back the California bungalow), the
hard-boiled detective (think Raymond Chandler), and the style (from hair and
clothing, to cars and decor). I was grateful that I had spent a few minutes
going over the Owns Valley timeline before watching the movie again. Although
fictionalized, the movie depicts the complexities of the water wars of the early
1900s, and is still relevant 80 years later. Watch the trailer (click “Watch
Trailer”): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/
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