Many aspects of the movie "Chinatown- appealed to me as I have never seen it before and so many different things about it appealed me. Most of all, I loved Faye Dunaway in it, and her character, Evelyn Mulwray. .
Most of all, I love the sophistication of her character, Evelyn. It might be just the manner and the way women carried themselves in this era of time but nonetheless, I love it. She plays a woman who is, above all, mysterious. She is good at hiding what she needs to and letting a little on what she subconsciously wants others to know. Otherwise she wouldn't have kept meeting up with Jack Nicholson's character, Mr. Giddes. .
Evelyn is brought into the plot because her husband, Mr. Mulwray was murdered. Jake Giddes (Jack Nicholson's character), a private investigator type suspects that she killed her husband, Hollis Mulwray (played by Darrell Zwerling) out of jealousy. His story is that she killed him because she knew about his mistress. Evelyn is very secretive about the whole ordeal and it turns out it wasn't because she killed him "it was because the "mistress- that Mr. Giddes suspects Mr. Mulwray was having an affair with is actually the daughter AND sister of Evelyn. Yes, her father Noah Cross (played by John Huston) was her daughter's father. Evelyn is ashamed of this and it's probably why she is reluctant to tell Mr. Giddes the truth. She seems as if she lies out of necessity but in actuality she doesn't lie, just simply doesn't let the facts on to Mr. Giddes. This is shown in the way she converses with Mr. Giddes. In a very mystifying, classy way, she let's Mr. Giddes finish her sentences, leaving him to unnecessarily figure things out for himself. It's as if she is weary about answering too much; as if it's not worth the risk if the person questioning her can't catch on to it on their own. .
In a way, Evelyn Mulwray is both the anti-hero and the tragic hero of the film.
