Chinatown

The 1970s are considered one of the most revolutionary periods in American filmmaking, and Roman Polanski’s Chinatown is one of the decade’s best. A reinvention of classic film noir, the dark and glistening tale stars Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, a detective who’s not afraid of bending the rules to get answers. He finds himself pulled into a mystery that’s both personal and political after he starts investigating what he believes is an ordinary affair. He discovers that he’s been duped; then the guy he’s trailing ends up dead. A young and stunning Faye Dunaway plays a beautiful Los Angeles socialite who gets tangled up with Gittes, giving viewers a story ripe with murder, incest, tragedy and one of the best endings in moviemaking history, not to mention the scene where Polanski slices open Nicholson’s nose. You get to see it all on the big screen as Polanski intended today at 7 p.m. Rice Media Center, 6100 Main. For information, call 713-348-3138 or visit www.ricecinema.rice.edu. $5 to $6.

Mon., Jan. 19, 7 p.m., 2009