Chinatown
Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne. The film stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. It was inspired by the California water wars: a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century that resulted in Los Angeles securing water rights in the Owens Valley. The Robert Evans production, released by Paramount Pictures, was Polanski's last film in the United States and features many elements of film noir, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama.
Plot
In 1937, a woman named "Evelyn Mulwray" hires private investigator J.J. "Jake" Gittes to trail her husband Hollis, whom she suspects of infidelity. After Gittes photographs Hollis in the company of a young woman, the pictures appear in the Los Angeles Times with a story exposing their supposed "love nest". Gittes is confronted by the real Evelyn Mulwray, who threatens to sue him after her imposter used him to discredit Hollis, chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.