MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | CHINATOWN

Right. Let's get this one into the blog early on. CHINATOWN, baby.

Plot in a nutshell: Jake Gittes, a private detective in 1930's Los Angeles is hired to expose an adulterer by a mysterious woman. But this is just the start of a web of intrigue, lies and murder that at its core, will rock his world...

So I’ve been recommended this script by too many people to name and countless courses extolling it’s virtues. But I have to say, CHINATOWN is one of the most perfect things I’ve ever read. Flawless. Just the story and the way it flows. I could see the film and every perfect beat. Literally the only gripes were the odd typo here and there.

So, what did I learn from CHINATOWN?

Another method of writing action directions (characters name in capitals and then the action continues on a new line) for me was great to discover. The characters stood out so strongly and yet the scripts staging stayed masterful.

And don't get me started on the ending, which still hits like a brick.

I had moments of clarity where I thought “thank God someone’s written a near perfect script. Now I don’t have to” and then remembered that these things take time and the journey is the best bit. Hope I can create something half as good one day. Masterful and well worth the time to read.

Link to the script;

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Chinatown.pdf