Los Angeles – Watch Chinatown Before You Go

Visiting Los Angeles is an invitation to experience one of the most diverse, creative, and dynamic cities in the world. Set between mountains, desert, and ocean, LA offers a rare blend of natural beauty and global cultural influence.

Few cities can match its variety. You can start your morning hiking in Griffith Park with views of the Hollywood Sign, spend the afternoon relaxing on Santa Monica or Venice Beach, and end the day dining in a world-class restaurant downtown or in West Hollywood. From surfing and sunsets to skyscrapers and studios, LA constantly shifts in mood and atmosphere.

As the centre of the global entertainment industry, Los Angeles is also rich in film, music, and art. Visitors can explore iconic studios, independent cinemas, cutting-edge galleries, and legendary music venues. The city’s creative energy is everywhere — in street murals, fashion districts, and neighbourhood cafés.

LA’s multicultural identity is another major draw. Influences from Latin America, Asia, Europe, and beyond shape its food, festivals, and communities. Whether you’re eating tacos in East LA, Korean barbecue in Koreatown, or sushi in Little Tokyo, the city’s flavours reflect its global soul.

Above all, Los Angeles is a place of possibility. It attracts dreamers, innovators, and storytellers from around the world. With its sunshine, scenery, and endless experiences, LA offers a wonderful holiday.

As the home of Hollywood, choosing just one film to watch before visiting Los Angeles feels almost impossible. Modern classics such as La La Land, Straight Outta Compton, Inherent Vice, and Tangerine offer a distinct and revealing portrait of the city — from dreamy romance and musical fantasy to raw realism and countercultural mystery.

Filmmakers like Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson have also used Los Angeles as a rich cinematic canvas, producing standout works such as The Player and Punch-Drunk Love.

Looking further back, noir-era masterpieces like Sunset Boulevard, In a Lonely Place, and Double Indemnity capture the city’s darker, more seductive side. With decades of storytelling behind it, Los Angeles has been reinvented on screen countless times — so much so that you could easily spend a week watching films and still only scratch the surface.

For us, it’s a close call between Heat — the definitive Michael Mann classic — and Chinatown. Heat earns its place as an essential Los Angeles film through its sweeping use of the city’s freeways, downtown streets, and waterfronts, capturing the scale, isolation, and restless energy of urban life with remarkable precision. Its night-time cityscapes and meticulously staged action sequences turn Los Angeles itself into a central character.

Yet, for all its brilliance, there is ultimately no beating Chinatown. With its blend of mystery, corruption, and sunlit unease, it distils the city’s hidden histories and moral contradictions into a timeless story. More than any other film, it embodies that elusive, quintessential vision of Los Angeles — glamorous on the surface, unsettling beneath, and endlessly fascinating.

Watching Chinatown before visiting Los Angeles is one of the best ways to understand the city’s deeper character. Beneath its sunshine, palm trees, and glamorous reputation lies a complex history shaped by power, ambition, and hidden struggles. Chinatown captures this duality better than almost any other film.

The story follows private detective Jake Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson in one of his most iconic performances. Nicholson brings charm, wit, and vulnerability to the role, making Gittes both confident and deeply human. As he uncovers layers of corruption linked to land, water, and political influence, the audience is drawn into a version of Los Angeles rarely seen in travel brochures.

Opposite him is Faye Dunaway, whose portrayal of Evelyn Mulwray adds emotional depth and quiet tragedy to the story. Her performance reflects the fragility that often hides behind the city’s polished image. Meanwhile, John Huston delivers a chilling turn as Noah Cross, embodying wealth, control, and moral decay with unsettling ease.

Much of the film’s power also comes from its screenplay by Robert Towne, which draws inspiration from real events surrounding Los Angeles’ historic water disputes. These conflicts helped shape the modern city, influencing where people lived, how neighbourhoods developed, and who held power. Understanding this context adds a fascinating layer to any visit.

By watching Chinatown, travellers gain more than cinematic enjoyment. They gain insight into Los Angeles’ hidden stories — its struggles over resources, its culture of reinvention, and its long-standing tension between idealism and exploitation.

When you later drive through sunlit suburbs, walk downtown streets, or explore historic districts, the film’s themes linger in the background. Chinatown teaches you to look beyond appearances and notice the layers beneath.

Before you arrive in LA, it offers the perfect introduction: stylish, haunting, intelligent, and endlessly revealing.