(Roman Polanski, 1974, United States, 130 minutes)

Jumping off from the simple premise of a private dick being hired to shadow an unfaithful husband, but continually finding ever more layers of the onion to peel back, you’ll have a hard time finding a more pleasingly convoluted plot than Chinatown’s. Starring Jack Nicholson in what is perhaps his most iconic role (a bold statement when talking about a figure like Nicholson) as the detective Jake Gittes, and with Faye Dunaway as the femme fatale.