Here at Psychologies, we often find ourselves recommending films to each other – what to watch to cheer you up, to wallow in your emotions or to make you think about family relationships. So we thought it might be nice if we shared our recommendations with you, each week. And where better to start than with Psychologies editor, Louise Chunn.
Best for: Questioning our idea of a femme fatale
One of my favourite films of all time is Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, and directed by Roman Polanski. It’s set in a very romantic period – pre-WWII Los Angeles – but it deals with political and sexual deceit and corruption. It’s a complicated plot – I’ve seen it many times and there are still parts that I have to rethink to follow properly – but at the heart of it is the glacially beautiful but incredibly complex Dunaway character, who is widowed early in the film. I knew that it was partly based on historical facts about water shortages in California but I recently read that the screenplay was a result of Robert Towne turning down a request from Robert Evans (ex-husband of Ali McGraw) to write the screenplay for The Great Gatsby as he thought F Scott Fitzgerald’s story couldn’t be improved. In doing that, he came up with a perfect screenplay. Naturally I am appalled that Polanski is accused of drugging and raping a teenager at around that time in his career – but it doesn’t take away from the power of Chinatown.
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