The first scene of Chinatown takes place in an office where the actors are seated most of the time, so there was little opportunity to use a dynamic shooting style, but even here Polanski’s subtly probing camera adds brilliant tension to the scene.
The setup:
Gittes is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to spy on her husband. He discovers Mr. Mulwray with another girl, and the story ends up in all the newspapers, because he’s the city’s chief engineer. Gittes continues to follow Mulwray, who discovers that someone is suspiciously diverting water in the middle of a drought. Gittes also finds out that the woman who hired him is not Evelyn Mulwray, and the real Mrs. Mulwray slaps him with a lawsuit. When Evelyn Mulwray mysteriously drops the lawsuit, Gittes tells her that someone is out to get her husband. Soon after that Mulwray is murdered, and when Gittes decides to investigate the water diversion himself, he practically gets his nose sliced off by a couple of hoods.
SCENE ONE: THE OFFICE
The first scene takes place about an hour into the movie, a little less than halfway through. Gittes knows that Evelyn Mulwray is hiding something from him, but he doesn’t know exactly what, and he’s not too thrilled with this wealthy, evasive woman who has gotten him into professional and physical jeopardy.
INT. GITTES’ OFFICE – DAY
Medium shot of Gittes standing at open door of inner office.
He looks back at his secretary.
CUT TO:
Close shot of secretary. She mouths “Mrs. Mulwray,” pointing inside.
CUT BACK TO:
Medium shot of Gittes at door. He opens the door wider to a medium long shot that reveals Evelyn Mulwray looking out the window, her back to the camera. Gittes takes a beat, then he starts to swing the door shut behind him.
CUT TO:
Medium close shot of Evelyn. Door slams off screen, startling her. She turns to look at him.
FRAME GRAB #1
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Gittes.
He makes eye contact with her.
FRAME GRAB #2
He turns away and walks to cabinet behind desk. He looks back at her.
GITTES
Drink?
CUT BACK TO:
Medium close shot of Evelyn.
EVELYN
No.…thank you
She moves away from the window toward the camera until she’s in close-up. She looks back at him, sits down, and takes a puff of her cigarette.
EVELYN
What is your usual salary?
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Gittes.
GITTES
Thirty-five dollars daily for me, plus twenty for my associates, plus expenses.
He turns around, looking over some papers on his desk, drink in hand.
GITTES
(con’t)
Plus a bonus if I show results.
He sits down, continuing to look at papers.
CUT TO:
Close-up of Evelyn, in three-quarter profile. She takes a puff of her cigarette.
EVELYN
Whoever’s behind my husband’s death, why have they gone to all this trouble?
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of Gittes.
He’s still looking down at papers.
GITTES
Money. How they plan to make it out of emptying the reservoirs…that I don’t know.
CUT BACK TO:
Close-up of Evelyn.
EVELYN
I’ll pay your salary plus five thousand dollars if you find out what happened to Hollis and who is involved.
FRAME GRAB #3
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Gittes.
He finally looks up at her, takes a beat, leans in to push intercom.
GITTES
Sophie, draw up one of our standard contracts for Mrs. Mulwray.
SOPHIE
(OS, through intercom)
Yes, Mr. Gittes.
He continues to eye Evelyn warily and sits back, drink in hand.
GITTES
Tell me something.…did you get married before or after Mulwray and your father sold the water department?
FRAME GRAB #4
CUT TO:
Close-up of Evelyn, head on. She reacts, startled.
FRAME GRAB #5
GITTES
(OS)
Noah Cross is your father, isn’t he?
She looks away, looks back at him.
EVELYN
Uh…yes, of course.
She looks down.
CUT TO:
Insert shot of Evelyn’s hands. She flips her purse open, pulling cigarette out of case.
FRAME GRAB #6
EVELYN
(OS)
It was sometime after. I was just out of grade school when they did that.
CUT TO:
Close shot of Gittes. He watches her.
FRAME GRAB #7
GITTES
Then you married your father’s business partner?
CUT BACK TO:
Close-up of Evelyn, head on.
She makes eye contact for a moment, then looks down, brings cigarette to mouth and just as she starts to light it…
GITTES
(OS)
You’ve already got one going, Mrs. Mulwray.
She puffs on her cigarette, laughs nervously.
EVELYN
…oh.
She takes cigarette out of her mouth, looks down.
GITTES
(OS)
Does, uh…
FRAME GRAB #8
CUT TO:
Insert shot of ashtray. She stubs out cigarette.
FRAME GRAB #9
GITTES
(OS)
…my talking about your father upset you?
EVELYN
(OS)
Why no…
CUT BACK TO:
Close-up of Evelyn, head on. She’s looking down.
FRAME GRAB #10
She looks up.
EVELYN
…yes, a little. You see Hollis and my f… my father had a falling out finally.
GITTES
(OS)
Over you or over the water department?
EVELYN
Not over me. Why should… it be over me?
GITTES
(OS)
Then it was over the water department.
EVELYN
Yes. Hollis felt that the water should belong to the public and I don’t think… my father felt that way.
CUT TO:
Medium long shot of door opening. Sophie enters carrying file.
EVELYN
(OS)
Actually it…
FRAME GRAB #11
CUT BACK TO:
Medium long shot of Gittes at his desk.
EVELYN
(OS, cont’d)
…was over the Van der Lip Dam. You know the dam that broke.
Gittes looks over as file is handed to him.
GITTES
…Oh yeah?
EVELYN
(OS)
Yes. Hollis never forgave him for it.
GITTES
Never forgave him for what?
He looks up at her.
FRAME GRAB #12
EVELYN
(OS)
For talking him into building it. They never spoke from that time on.
He looks up at her, then down, signing contract.
GITTES
You sure about that?
EVELYN
(OS)
Of course I’m sure.
Gittes holds contract out, sets it down at far edge of table. .
GITTES
Sign here.
He holds out a pen as camera pans over to include Evelyn. She leans over desk and signs. .
GITTES
(con’t)
The copy’s for you.
FRAME GRAB #13
DECONSTRUCTION
Scene edited by Sam O’Steen
The scene starts with Gittes entering his office — and virtually ignoring Evelyn. In fact, he slams the door and startles her without announcing himself, showing his hostility. The editor chooses to hold on Evelyn as her eyes follow him (the “out” frame is Frame grab #1). The editor cuts to Gittes when he makes eye contact with her (the “in” frame is Frame grab #2). But Gittes holds the contact only for a moment, then turns away, only half glancing back when he offers her a drink, then continues to avoid looking at her as he rifles through the papers on his desk.
frame grab 1
frame grab 2
The editor cuts back to Evelyn when she offers him a large sum of money to find out who killed her husband (the “out” frame is Frame grab #3).
frame grab 3
There is a cut for Gittes’ reaction and he doesn’t take his eyes off Evelyn for the duration of this shot until he asks her a significant question: “Did you get married before or after Mulwray and your husband sold the water department?” At that point the editor cuts (the “out” frame is Frame grab #4).
frame grab 4
frame grab 5
The editor then cuts to Evelyn’s surprisingly startled reaction to his question (the “in” frame is Frame grab #5), which foreshadows the powerful and evil role that Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross, plays in the story. In fact, the editor makes the most of Evelyn’s reaction by using her head-on close-up for the first time. She was in three-quarter profile before this, as shown in Frame grab #3. The editor also overlaps Gittes’ question over her close-up, adding tension to the moment. Gittes knows that when he’s questioning Evelyn here about her father and husband being partners, he’s also including the fact that Noah Cross is her father. Gittes doesn’t know the significance of Noah Cross yet, but he knows that Evelyn had the opportunity to tell him about her connection to Cross in a previous scene but she didn’t, so he follows that line of questioning now. The editor stays on Evelyn’s close-up as Gittes presses her to admit Cross is her father. She looks away before she answers and looks back at Gittes before she finally makes the admission. She then averts her eyes again by looking down, which cues the cut to an insert shot of her grabbing for a cigarette. The “in” frame and “out” frames (the latter is Frame grab #6) show Evelyn’s hands at peak movement, which makes this insert shot blend in smoothly and also serves to underline her nervous energy. Up to this point, Gittes has been shown only in medium long shot. His close-up (the “in” frame is Frame grab #7) is saved for his reaction to Evelyn’s fumbling for a cigarette. Her nervousness makes him realize the father-daughter connection may be a key to unlocking her secrets. As a result, Gittes puts pressure on her by making her acknowledge what had already been mentioned before, that she married her father’s business partner.
frame grab 6
frame grab 7
Again the editor cuts to her head-on close-up and slightly overlaps the dialogue, showing her avoidance once more. The “in” frame of the shot starts with her briefly making eye contact, not saying a word, then shows her looking down to light up and smoke. When Gittes tells her, off screen, that she’s already got one cigarette going, the editor stays with her close-up, to show her discomfort until she looks down again (the “out” frame is Frame grab # 8). That downward look cues the cut to another insert of her nervous hands stubbing out the cigarette she’d previously lit (Frame grab #9).
frame grab 8
frame grab 9
Over that shot, Gittes asks her if the mention of her father upsets her, and her off-screen response is “Why no…” When the editor cuts to Evelyn’s close-up (the “in” frame is Frame grab #10), her eyes are looking down in avoidance again, and then she looks up and admits that she is, “…yes, a little,” upset.
frame grab 10
Part of the editor’s job is to cover up problems and make the most of what he has. The actress Faye Dunaway’s line readings are somewhat uneven in this movie. An example is her dialogue over the shot of the ashtray (Frame grab #9) and her subsequent line in her close-up (Frame grab #10). Breaking up the two lines visually — cutting from an off-screen to an on-screen line — makes that inconsistency less obvious. Throughout the movie, editor O’Steen struggled with the unreliable quality of Dunaway’s performance: “I had to change her performance in so many ways.… she used to give the weirdest line readings.” However, O’Steen was able to use Dunaway’s hesitations and voice fluctuations, which, he said, “worked for the part, because she was the one with something to hide.”24
As Gittes continues to ask Evelyn questions about her father, the editor stays on the close shot of her to show her revealing hesitations. When Gittes asks Evelyn if her father and husband had a falling out over her or the water department, the question clearly throws her. But after that the pressure is somewhat off Evelyn, as she sidesteps the loaded question by presenting a hard fact — the dam breaking — as the reason why the two men no longer speak. At this point the editor can afford to cut away and take a breather, allowing the secretary to enter with the contract (the “out” frame is Frame grab #11). The editor cuts out here on a “awkward” shot of the secretary’s midsection, but clearly the timing of her handing Gittes the contract mattered more than following any rule.
frame grab 11
When the editor cuts to Gittes, he seems somewhat disinterested as Evelyn continues to talk about the dam. His interest perks up when he asks Evelyn what her husband never forgave her father for, after which he makes eye contact with her in Frame grab #12. This is also a loaded question but Evelyn has a straightforward answer for it, so there is no need to cut to her. When Evelyn says her father and husband haven’t spoken to each other for some time, we see Gittes look up again, because Gittes know that’s not true: his assistant had previously photographed the two of them arguing. But Evelyn obviously doesn’t know that, so again there is no need to cut to her. Also, by staying on Gittes, the audience gets to watch him become the one who is now withholding information. The scene ends with a commentary on the tenuous nature of their professional relationship: a long shot of Evelyn signing a contract, and Gittes watching her warily (the “out” frame is Frame grab #13).
frame grab 12
frame grab 13
SCENE TWO: THE CONFESSION
In the fifty minutes that have passed between the two scenes, the audience has gone through the frustrating journey, with Gittes, of peeling back the layers of Evelyn’s lies and secrets. Evelyn and Gittes have also become romantically involved, which raises the emotional stakes even higher. And now Gittes feels betrayed, since he’s become convinced that the woman he thinks is Mulwray’s girlfriend is being held against her will by Evelyn and that, worse still, Evelyn has killed her husband in a jealous rage. The scene starts with Gittes rushing to the house where Evelyn has kept the girl in hiding.
The Invisible Cut Page 13
