The Two Jakes 4K 1990

The role of Jake Gittes in Roman Polanski's triumphant masterpiece Chinatown has always been one of Jack Nicholson's favorites. He initiated the production of a sequel several times, but all the worthy directors refused. Polanski's film was filigree, precise, and did not require a sequel. In the end, Nicholson shot the sequel himself, produced it, and reappeared on screen as a conscientious private investigator. The second part was released 16 years after Chinatown. No miracle happened. The film was killed by critics, and viewers did not notice it.

In fact, the film is not that bad. This is thanks to screenwriter Robert Towne, who won an Oscar for the screenplay for “The French Connection.” Towne's work exceeds any skeptical expectations. If Polanski or De Palma had directed The Two Jakes, it could have been a second masterpiece, but it was Nicholson's work as a director that greatly averaged out the film. It is no coincidence that the great actor never approached the director's chair again. With its superbly conveyed noir style, Nicholson lacked the necessary seriousness. By 1990, he had already gained momentum as a cold-hearted actor and added a dose of comedy to each role. This disrupted the extremely serious rhythm of the script and made a number of Nicholson's solo scenes completely unnecessary.

But Nicholson still managed to convey the essence of the story, which forms a close unity with the 1974 film. It is worth noting that this is not a free interpretation of images from the classic film, but a direct continuation of the plot. The action takes place 11 years later, in 1948, and almost all of the surviving characters from Chinatown are present in the frame. This was one of the reasons for the failure, as the new generation of viewers had not seen the old film and simply could not understand the new one. Town and Nicholson carried over all the threads and details of the original concept, adding short flashbacks from the first part. Therefore, Two Jakes cannot be fully appreciated without seeing Polanski's masterpiece.

Gittes once again has to untangle a web of Freudian motifs and economic scams, to which he is brought back by one of his ordinary clients named Jake (Harvey Keitel). This mirror character, who is either a swindler or the noblest of mortals, awakens the detective's hidden guilt associated with the outcome of a terrible story that took place more than ten years ago in the streets of Chinatown. But if back then the seasoned Gittes moved through the twists and turns of the plot from indifferent irony to the abyss of human depravity, here, on the contrary, his path lies toward the citadel of honesty and repentance. Overall, The Two Jakes turned out to be a very masculine story. Men filled with sentimentality and peculiar notions of honor are in the foreground. As for women, as befits a true noir, they are either whores or fallen angels whose wings can only be restored by stingy male tears. The tough men in hats in the sweltering heat of Los Angeles are more faithful to their memories, and even when it's all over, the phrase “It will never be forgotten” is uttered.