web - Chinatown 1 copy
Chinatown (1974)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

Chinatown

Roman Polanski | USA | 1974 | M
Film

When

Wed 9 Apr 2025

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By reflecting the unease of the Vietnam War and Watergate era, Polanski masterfully updates the classic noir formula to create “one of the most unremittingly bleak statements on How Things Work in America” (Scott Tobias). Jack Nicholson plays J. J. “Jake” Gittes, hired to investigate suspected infidelity but quickly drawn into a dense web of crime and corruption set against the backdrop of internecine disputes over the water supply to Los Angeles.

Boasting stellar performances by Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, a masterfully structured script by Robert Towne, and a stunning recreation of sun-drenched 1930s LA, this is frequently cited as one of the greatest films of all time. 4K DCP.

Format: 4K DCP
Language: English
Source: Paramount
Courtesy: Paramount
Runtime: 130 mins

Event duration

130 mins

Rating

M

Mature themes, violence and coarse language

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

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Membership options

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(3 consecutive weeks)
$30.5–36

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$174–325

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More films screening in this program

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About Melbourne Cinémathèque

Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven. 

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