Slight spoilers, FYI. But then again the movie is like 38 years old.
I was watching Chinatown again tonight and it got me thinking... When did Hollywood stop being able to pull of the melancholic ending? Nowadays only the foreign or the indie manage it, and often not even well. Yet in Chinatown it is as big a bastard as it could possibly be and still functions perfectly. Part of what makes it so powerful is Evelyn Mulwray's spectacular performance when she reveals the darker truths of her situation to Nicholson. That scene is harrowing.
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