Fact based and dense material so you may want to check out the historical disputes over land and water rights in the San Fernando Valley as helpful background material prior to watching.

  The 1970’s produced many great films with iconic performances that transcend their decade.  Jack Nicholson achieved that a few times in the 70’s, including here in "It’s Chinatown."

  To better appreciate (or perhaps understand) the significance of the film’s title and the ending, take note of an easy to miss dialogue exchange where Detective Gittes recounts that in the past he tried to assist a female client in Chinatown and it failed miserably and also notice that all other references to the title town imply a sort of cosmic bad-luck zone.

        » Brent Chastain, Top3films.com