These Two Movies Have Literally Nothing in Common (#41: Chinatown; #42: Chocolat)

So I whenever I combine two different films into one entry, I try to find some connective tissue between the two movies. In this case, I'm at a loss.

But whatever, I really don't want to write two separate entries. You'll deal.

#41: Chinatown

You're a very nosy fellow, kitty cat.

One of the crown jewels of American film's true Golden Age (the 1970's), Chinatown is a uncompromisingly harsh deconstruction of the film noir.

Part of the Holy Trinity of iconic Jack Nicholson performances (guess the other two*), Mr. Front Row at the Oscars himself stars as J.J. "Jake" Gittes. A former Chinatown cop making ends meet as a private dick, Gittes gets hired by a Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray to follow her husband, a Water Department executive, to discover if he's having an affair. Gittes does his job. But then it turns out that Mrs. Mulwray may not be the Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway, excellent). And Mr. Mulwray ends up dead. Before he knows it, Gittes is trying to figure out what (if anything) this all has to do with LA's water supply and Noah Cross, Mulwray's former partner and Evelyn's father (played by a frighteningly serene John Huston). To give away more of the plot would be a sin, as this film has one of the least expected twists of all time.

Working from a lightning in a bottle script by Robert Towne, director Roman Polanski skillfully navigates the audience through the morass of LA corruption - while still making the viewer tantalizingly play catch up. The master stroke of Chinatown is that the scheme Gittes attempts to reveal isn't some "criminal" enterprise to sell drugs, guns, or women. It's instead part of the ordinary corruption, compromise, and coverup that the Powers That Be engage in without reprisal or shame, all in the name of progress.

You get rich enough, you make LA big enough, no one is going to ask where the bodies are buried. At the end, it doesn't matter what your intentions are, so much as whether the right hands were shaken. In the end, it's all Chinatown.

FINAL VERDICT: KEEPER

#42: Chocolat 

Our next film, Chocolat, could not be further from the hard-edged cynicism of Chinatown.

Johnny Depp only eats artisanal handcrafted chocolate. Because of course.

Julia Ormond - who looks likes she was transported from 1950's MGM picture - arrives in a small French village with her little daughter in tow and opens a chocolaterie. As her arrival coincides with the Lenten season, she quickly makes enemies of the puritanical Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). He's right to be concerned, as her very presence - not to mention her exotic chocolates laced with chili peppers - opens up the repressed souls of the quaint villagers (Judi Dench, Jean Reno, Lena Olin, etc.). Johnny Depp also shows up as a fellow wayward traveler and apparent kindred spirit, sporting an Irish brogue and no makeup. 

If you've ever seen a movie ever, even the kind they show on TV, you can guess how this all plays out. 

It makes no matter, the movie never tries to be more than it is and is simply satisfied to skate by on its charm. Which is enough. Just like a decent piece of chocolate, it may be nothing special, but is still damn good in the moment.

FINAL VERDICT: KEEPER

NEXT UP: CHUNGKING EXPRESS

*McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Jack Torrance in The Shining.