Movie Review Chinatown The Ending And The Nightmare Of...

The filmmakers of Chinatown used the visual motif of escape to guide the audience towards the film’s central theme, which is that integrity does not prevail. This message is evoked from the article â€Å"Chinatown: The Ending† where â€Å"Chinatown is a metaphor for the nightmare of urban Los Angeles where you may think you know what is happening, but really you have no idea; where the police do as little as possible because attempts to install order can only make things worse like in this movie.† In this scene, Jake ventures into an orange farm to uncover the mystery, which is ironic because in Chinese culture oranges are gifts that represent good fortune, which Jake has none. The left side of the shot is brighter than the right, but the car is purposely pointing to the darker to illustrate that as Jake delves deeper into this mystery, there will be trouble. Jake’s car is also much darker which represents how he has an inclination for the dangerous. The spare tire on Jake’s car hints that Jake will be able to escape. Evelyn’s car, however, does not have a spare tire which foreshadows her eventual tragedy. In addition, this is the most chaotic car scene in the whole film representing a shift in seriousness; the story will start to intensify. Once again Jake finds himself escaping, this time from an old folk’s home. The retirement home is brightly lit, but when Jake leaves the entire shot immediately shifts to pitch black. There is a clear contrast between their jolly, go-lucky