12/16/2023 0 Comments Mulholland falls![]() ![]() cops bringing vigilante justice to anyone standing in their way no longer qualifies them to wear unblemished white hats. Not only that, but the thought of a band of rogue L.A. But director Lee Tamahori (“Once Were Warriors”) is no Roman Polanski, the Polish filmmaker who gave Robert Towne’s similar “Chinatown” screenplay the look and feel of genius. Even the plot is intriguing, starting with the death of a young woman and eventually involving a conspiracy associated with the Atomic Energy Commission. ![]() It’s not necessarily the tone, either, which is a carbon copy of the Los Angeles-based, hard-boiled fiction of Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, et al. What’s wrong here is not the atmosphere, which is post-World War II Los Angeles. Find a copy, particularly a letterboxed copy (laserdisc is best), and see for yourself the difference between timeless quality and contemporary pretense. Complex, suspenseful and riveting, the film’s only weak point is a too-literal finale involving the metaphorical title.īut don’t take my word for any of this. The result is a classic of hard-boiled cinema (one that earned 10 Oscar nomination), with Nicholson’s Jake Gittes investigating a murder that ends up involving both a conspiracy to “steal” water for Los Angeles and a perverse secret concerning Dunaway’s Evelyn Mulwray and Huston’s Noah Cross. Stewart Campbell and Ruby Levitt and editor Sam O’Steen. Their efforts blended well with the talents of co-stars John Huston, Diane Ladd and Polanski (as a knife-carrying hood), cinematographer John A. Nicholson, a film veteran of 16 years, had only recently come into his own as a leading man in such riveting dramas as “Five Easy Pieces” (1970), “Carnal Knowledge” (1971), “The King of Marvin Gardens” (1972) and “The Last Detail.”įaye Dunaway, on the other hand, had been a leading lady since 1967 when she burst onto the screen in Arthur Penn’s “Bonnie and Clyde.” She followed that with roles in such popular films as “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968), “The Three Musketeers” (1974) and “The Towering Inferno” (1974). Towne, even though he had been nominated for an Oscar in 1973 for “The Last Detail,” until then had worked mostly as a script consultant (he wrote the garden scene between Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather”). This was his first venture as an independent producer, and it was he who put the project together - including the hiring of Polanski.īefore directing “Chinatown,” which was based on an original script by Robert Towne, Polish emigre Polanski had been known for the dark psychological studies he had done in Europe (“Repulsion,” 1965), the American satanic/horror study “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), but maybe mostly for being the husband of murdered actress Sharon Tate. As for Roman Polanski’s 22-year-old “Chinatown,” there’s always something to say - especially when you’re comparing it, a genuine classic, to a mere pretender.Īs Paramount’s production head, Robert Evans had been the executive in charge of “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Love Story” (1970) and “The Godfather” (1972) among others. I say everything you need to know about “Mulholland Falls” below. Compare that contemporary creation with, say, 1974’s “Chinatown.” ![]() Take, for example, “Mulholland Falls,” which just became available on video (see capsule review below). If nothing else, they’re still better than most anything being made today - as a simple comparison easily proves. Even if this were true, the movies of that decade are still pretty good. OK, for argument’s sake, let’s accept the notion that the 1970s weren’t as great as those of us who came of movie age during that decade say they are. In terms of drama, though, EW rates the ‘70s no better than fourth. ![]() Further, many critics consider the ‘70s to be the best single decade the film industry has ever seen. The surprise here is that some circles, which include some of EW’s own critics, consider that many of the best movie dramas were made in the 1970s. In its 1994 book-length collection called “The Entertainment Weekly Guide to the Greatest Movies Ever Made,” the popular magazine put forth a somewhat surprising opinion: The best movie dramas were released in the 1980s. ![]()
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