Jack Nicholson's raised sister was his actual mother, he found it out, that same year when he was 37 years old. His assumed parents where his grandparents. Jake was disillusioned as a policeman working in Chinatown because he couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys.
He never knew if he was pursuing actual justice or just helping local power-brokers settle scores. He wound up hurting the innocent when he thought he was helping. Jump to the end of the movie. Jake has tried to help the ladies escape the horrible injustices and abuse caused by the ladies' shared father. Jake's escape plan is foiled by the blundering police, and they wind up killing one of the victims instead of the perpetrator.
Jake is told to "forget it, it's just Chinatown"; but what Jake has learned by now is that the outside world works a lot like Chinatown. Jake was trying to help good in opposition to evil, but the main evil character was rich and powerful and respected-so the police naturally and instantly took his side when the conflict took place.
They work for the rich and powerful. This is what led to tragedy. Once again, Jake's actions turned out to be on behalf of the bad guy, even though he thought he was helping the good people. Evil triumphed and the good faced tragedy and death. My work involves taking a hard look at capitalism and its effects on society. I want to add to what others have commented about Jake and who he is. To me, one of the most important scenes in this amazing movie is the exchange between Gittes and Noah Cross, when Cross sits at his beautifully appointed outdoor table, dining on foods most people could never afford:.
Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What could you buy that you can't already afford? This both shows who Jake is--"How much better can you eat? With his wealth, he can control everything and everyone around him, which he certainly demonstrates amply. What he can't control is what hasn't happened yet: the future.
It also clearly shows the evil in Cross, which is his belief that he is entitled to know and control the future--because of his wealth. This brand of evil ultimately is Gittes' downfall and Evelyn's sentence of death:. Noah Cross Now, where's the girl? I want the only daughter I've got left. As you found out, Evelyn was lost to me a long time ago. Noah Cross: I don't blame myself. You see, Mr. But he hadn't met Noah Cross. This adds to the weight of the lines, "As little as possible.
And each time, the evil was insurmountable. Would things have worked out better for the women he was trying to save? Well, the woman in Chinatown would have had to remain in her circumstance likely prostitution, which in the time would have been akin to slavery , and Evelyn would inevitably have lost her daughter, because she--and Mulwray--could ultimately be no match for Cross's money and power. This would have destroyed her, if not killed her. And Jake would have suffered a smaller, but possibly more soul-crushing, defeat in having not even tried.
Which would be harder to live with? In the bedroom scene with Evelyn Mulwray, she asks Gittis "What did you do when you worked on the police force? A complicated, dark mystery filled with lies and guilt, so ugly that the truth can never be spoken aloud to anyone. Jake had a line early in the movie while talking to Mrs. Mulwray to the effect that sometimes it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.
And we see throughout the movie, particularly in his relationship with Evelyn Mulwray, that he never lets sleeping dogs lie --he is after all a detective--and his actions end up making matters worse if not for him for someone else.
I believe his encounter with the customer in the barber shop, when Jake defends his occupation to the point of violence indicates his uncertainty in regard to the ultimate worth of his work.
Likely His relentless quest for the truth during the unexplained event in Chinatown led to a similar case in which the punishment far outweighed the crime just as he views the death of Evelyn to be far too harsh for her crime of incest. For me the question: Is it better to let sleeping dogs lie or not was constantly presented to Jake.
Another example of this was when he was tailing Hollis Mulwray and ended up at a meeting where Hollis gave a speech. Throughout those proceedings Jake was bored stiff and began reading the paper. However when the spectacle of the sheep entering the hall and the farmer bringing up the subject of the value of water to all involved caught his interest he could have let that aspect of story alone, after all he as a detective was looking for evidence of infidelity.
Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.
Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What is the meaning of the line at the end of Chinatown? Ask Question.
Asked 9 years, 8 months ago. Active 4 months ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. EdChum EdChum 2, 9 9 gold badges 28 28 silver badges 43 43 bronze badges. None of the above are the 'last line' of the movie that Jake says It's forty years later and we are still talking about it, for this and other reasons.
That's what it meant. To all the naysayers here and below, for what it's worth the script itself ends with those lines Get off the streets! Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. What is the meaning of "Chinatown" and the last line of the movie? And the ending we're left with is flat-out horrific. Noah brings Jake to Chinatown and tries to intercept Evelyn before she can take their daughter away. The cops are there, which would seem fortunate, but they won't listen to Jake when he tries to tell them that Noah's a criminal.
Evelyn takes matters into her own hands and shoots Noah—but the wound isn't fatal, and Noah stays on his feet. When she tries to flee the scene, the cops gun her down. Bewildered, Jake can only walk away from the scene murmuring the words, "as little as possible" with his assistant telling him:. Jake realizes he never understood the reality of what he was dealing with until it was too late.
He believes that he would've been better off not investigating it, and not getting involved. Loach, however, fires into the car—intentionally or not—and Evelyn is killed, shot through the head and eye. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Summary Plot Overview. Character List J.
Important Quotes Explained. Literary Devices The Ending.
0コメント