“Forget it Jake, It’s Chinatown…” This is the final line of one of my all-time favourite movies.

Jack Nicholson has never been better than as private detective Jake Gittes, who becomes embroiled with wealthy businessman John Huston and his estranged daughter Faye Dunaway in 1930’s Los Angeles.

Roman Polanski’s classic neo-noir has a great sense of place, a twisty plot (Robert Towne’s screenplay justifiably netted him an Oscar), and fabulous performances all round.

Polanski himself plays the hoodlum who slits Nicholson’s character’s nose mid-way through (causing him to wear a bandage for the rest of the movie). Chinatown itself is referenced throughout but only features briefly at the (very bleak) ending, which comes with a dark twist.

Chinatown had a belated sequel, The Two Jakes, directed by Nicholson himself, but it failed to live up to the illustrious original.

This is the Belgian version of the iconic poster, which at some point I need to get framed and displayed.