The CHINATOWN Screenplay - Why Screenwriters NEED to Read It - Part 2: The Premise
1The CHINATOWN Screenplay - Why Screenwriters NEED to Read It - Part 2: The Premise
All screenwriters should study the Chinatown (1974) screenplay. It's a masterclass of screenwriting techniques! In this clip from my longer video explaining Chinatown, I talk about why the premise of Chinatown is so strong and meaningful.
FULL VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/DdTP2c3kIcA
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TRANSCRIPT:
And that’s it. That’s a full exploration of Chinatown. And if you go all the way back to page 3 of the script, Jake Gittes’ words to Curly ring true at the end of the script: “I'll tell you the unwritten law, you dumb son of a bitch, you gotta be rich to kill somebody, anybody and get away with it. You think you got that kind of dough, you think you got that kind of class?”
Curly didn’t have that kind of dough or class, but [SPOILER] has both. He’s rich and influential, so he’ll get away with it. Why? Because in Chinatown, where the film ends, of if you’re rich and influential–there’s no such thing as justice.