The modern film noir thriller Chinatown is similar to many film noir detective films in which the police are corrupt, bought off by the ôbig fishö in town. The ôbig fishö in town in Chinatown is Noah Cross, an evil, wealthy individual who is trying to make a fortune by enriching land in the San Fernando Valley through a water diversion scheme. As Cross tells a detective, Jake Gittes, always one step behind him, ôYou may think you know what youÆre dealing with, but believe me, you donÆtö (Polanski 1974). The wealthy, behind-the-scenes capitalist who owns the police and corrupts entire cities for his own gain, Cross represents the ôbig fishö in the pond of Chinatown. The filmÆs storyline revolves around water, and the motif of a ôbig fishö, in this case Albacore Tuna, is used to highlight the fact that Cross is the biggest and most profitable fish in Chinatown.
Our first encounter with the Albacore (i.e. fish) motif used throughout the film occurs early on, when Gittes shows distraught fisherman Curly pictures of his faithless wife. On his way out the door, the distraught Curly tries to tell Jake he will pay his fees next week, after catching more profitable Albacore tuna. Like the flowing water being diverted, corruption flows deep in Chinatown. As Gittes begins investigating an alleged affair involving the Los Angeles water engineer, layer after layer of corruption surfaces. The rape of the land and water by Cross and his wealthy capitalist business associates will reveal another rape, one involving incest and murder.
As Gittes pursues the affairs of Hollis Mulwray, one of his associates shows him photographs of Mulwray and Cross having a heated argument. Again the motif of ôAlbacoreö surfaces, but like many other clues it is misunderstood by Gittes and his men. They believe that the two men are arguing over something called ôApple Core.ö Gittes discovers, when pictures of Mulwray and his alleged gir...