Chinatown

J.J. 'Jake' Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a private detective drawn from a snoop job on a client's husband into far more sinister conspiracy and lurid family estrangement. It may be set and shot not only in the Sunshine State but the City of Angels itself, but Chinatown has the pale colour palette to reflect its stone cold, bleak and broken heart. This was the picture that solidified the auteur status that director Roman Polanski had earned from Rosemary's Baby, and is deservedly considered one of the greatest films ever made. For a shoot so heavily fraught with ego clashes and open warfare for creative authority, it's a miracle it turned out tonally cohesive, never mind so praiseworthy. Performance, direction, and scoring all stand up as masterclass examples of subtlety used to devastating effect. This is last word in '70s noir, utterly compelling and iconic. [Jack McFarlane]