Chinatown

Chinatown

New Hollywood Genre Genre
1) Mast and Kawin identify what they call the genre genre.
2)I prefer to refer to these as postmodern genre films,
   or films that parody the plots, conventions,
   and stars of Hollywood's past, usually by using reflexive devices.
3)While Mast and Kawin first mention the parody films of Woody Allen
    and Mel Brooks as examples of what they call the genre genre

Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974)
 1)Chinatown has been described as a postmodern film by scholars like Frederic Jameson because:
     a)It was one of the first films to echo Hollywood’s own history by ironically
        placing a past director of traditional noir, John Huston, into the story as the movie’s evil business
        magnate, Noah Cross.
    b)Jameson explains key features of postmodern culture:
        b1)reflexivity
        b2)irony
        b3) pastiche
        b4) parody
       (Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, 1991).
    c)Jameson argues that a neo-noir film such as Chinatown simulates the past
       through references to older films in a way that erases historical depth
       —with stylistic gestures without deeper meaning
       — and thus fails to recreate a "real" or authentic past.

Introduction to Film Clip

The following scene shows the director (John Huston) of arguably the first noir of the Classical era,
 The Maltese Falcon, 1941, trade hard-boiled dialogue with one of the major stars of the Hollywood
 Renaissance, Jack Nicholson.

 The scene demonstrates postmodernity by merging the classic style of noir with the New Hollywood style.

Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974):

The scene where Huston Mr. Cross and Jack meet up he shows him an obituatry. You killed Mulray and left his glass in the seawater pond - that's where life begins. How much are you worth - over 10 million... what can you eat that you can't already afford. The Future. 
In their hats - Jack smoking...  now gun to his head...where's the girl?

Partial clip of what we saw - "Capable of Anything" Click Here

Introduction to another clip: 

Hollywood has changed dramatically since its inception despite the consistency of its annual Academy Awards. A new book, "The Big Goodbye," explores the dynamic shift through the lens of classic film"Chinatown." Jeff Glor sits down with author Sam Wasson to talk about the film's complex history and why it signaled the end of an era. The article Click Here

Chinatown: the best crime film of all time Click Here