Chinatown
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| Poster Origin : | United States |
| Poster Size : | US 1 Sheet / 27 x 41" |
| Poster Artist : | Jim Pearsall |
| Poster Year : | 1974 |
| Poster Version : | First Release |
| Film Origin : | United States |
| Film Director : | Roman Polanski |
| Film Year : | 1974 |
Jim Pearsall’s famous Chinatown artwork was an interesting choice. Given that the film is so resolutely fixed in the 1930s, complete with Art Deco titles sequence, it is surprising how this design utilises period styles and art movements but chooses to ignore that era entirely. Clearly this is an Art Nouveau-inspired aesthetic, though it actually owes more in spirit to the Japanese ukiyo-e genre.
Translated as the ‘floating world’, the ukiyo-e movement presents the concept of an evanescent world, impermanent, one of fleeting beauty and living only for the moment. The sparse backdrop and bold lines echo the woodblock minimalism and the form of Pearsall’s ‘JP’ signature even resembles a Japanese kanji. It looks quite at home tucked neatly beside the rectangular border, another common feature of ukiyo-e.
The film’s irrigation channels carry a tide of corruption that pushes against Jake, breaking in an emblematic wave - the influence of Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ can clearly be seen. Mirrored above is the heavenly apparition of Evelyn, Jake’s wistful fantasy. She is the epitome of ukiyo-e, just a transient entity in the smoke, but her beauty is maligned with Medusa-like serpentine hair.