Script to Screen: Chinatown | The PERFECT Final Scene
6Script to Screen: Chinatown | The PERFECT Final Scene
The ending of Chinatown's screenplay is different than the ending of the finished film. In this video, I'll share the screenplay, the final scene, and compare the two.
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REFERENCES:
- Chinatown Final Scene: https://youtu.be/-DHpDa4fvwo
- Chinatown Screenplay: https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/chinatown-1974.pdf
TRANSCRIPT:
Script to Screen: Chinatown | The PERFECT Final Scene
The final scene of the film Chinatown deviates from the screenplay. But which one has the better ending?
This is How Stories Work with Jay Sherer… let’s talk about the last scene of one of the best scripts and films of all time: Chinatown.
FIRST DIFFERENCE:
In the script, Gittes tries to drive by Katherine as she’s getting settled in the car. Cross spots Katherine, though, and tells Jake to pull over.
In the film, Gittes just pulls over and they all get out.
SECOND DIFFERENCE:
In the film, Gittes, Cross, and Mulvihill immediately confront the detectives, Escobar and Loach. Walsh and Duffy are already there, and they’ve been arrested by Escobar. When Gittes walks up, he tells them Cross murdered Hollis Mulwray, but Escobar isn’t having it. Jake has already lied to Escobar multiple times. Loach slaps cuffs on Gittes and now the two of them are attached.
In the script, Cross jumps out of the car and tries to get to Katherine immediately. Jake, Mulvihill, and Cross all fight. Gittes is trying to prevent Cross from getting to Evelyn and Katherine.
THIRD DIFFERENCE:
In the script, Mulvihill drops his gun and Evelyn picks it up.
In the film, Evelyn has her own gun.
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Now… the FOURTH DIFFERENCE:
In the script, Katherine gets in the lead car with Curly and Evelyn holds back to confront her father.
In the film, Curly takes Evelyn’s servants in the lead car, but Evelyn pushes Katherine into her own car. The brilliance of that change is that now, Cross, Evelyn, and Katherine are all in the same place, which adds a lot to the tension. Evelyn will do anything to keep Cross away from their daughter.
FIFTH DIFFERENCE:
In the film, Evelyn shoots Cross in the arm, but that doesn’t happen in the script.
In the script, the conversation between Gittes, Cross, and Escobar happens as Evelyn is holding the gun on them.
SIXTH DIFFERENCE:
Here’s where all these differences come to a conclusion. In the script, Katherine has already left with Curly. When Evelyn takes off in the car, she’s by herself. A random police officer in Chinatown shoots into Evelyn’s car and kills her.
In the film, Evelyn and Katherine take off in the car together and it’s Loach who shoots at the car and kills Evelyn.
And here’s why I ultimately prefer the film’s ending over the script: At the end of the film, Cross not only mourns Evelyn’s death–which he does in the script–he also gets something far more frightening: He gets access to Katherine.
Both endings prove the film’s premise: Justice looks very different for the poor vs. what it looks like for the rich. In Chinatown, nobody gets justice because they’re poor immigrants the system doesn’t care about. When you’re rich and influential, like Cross, you’ll never face justice for your crimes.
And in both the film and the script, the final line of the film is absolute perfection. Walsh says to Jake: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
There’s no such thing as justice for the poor or the rich, and Chinatown and Cross serve as the analogies to prove that point.
I highly recommend a rewatch of Chinatown, and if you’re a screenwriter, you need to read this script. Both the script and film are fantastic.
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Thanks for watching… Until next time, let’s go write something awesome.