American cinema in town
View(s):
The weekly American Center film screening will showcase renowned filmmaker Roman Polanski’s 1974 film ‘Chinatown’ at 6 pm on November 18 at the American Center auditorium. Starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, this 1974 American neo-noir film was inspired by the California Water Wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley.
JJ ‘Jake’ Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city’s water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city’s water supply.
‘Brave ’ animated fantasy film directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman will be screened as the weekly youth movie of the American Center at 3.30 p.m. on November 15.